Father Armand Garcia of Saint Martin of Tours Parish in Northeast Philly has been placed on administrative leave
Philly Voice
26 March 2018
St. Martin of Tours Parish & School – Philadelphia/Facebook
The Archdiocese of Philadelphia has placed a priest on administrative leave while authorities investigate him for alleged misconduct with minors.
Archdiocese spokesman Ken Gavin confirmed to PhillyVoice that Father Armand Garcia, the pastor for Saint Martin of Tours Parish in Northeast Philadelphia, was placed on leave after church officials were notified of the police investigation on Friday, March 16. Philly.com was first to report the news.
Gavin said police conducted a search warrant at the parish rectory the same day they found out about the investigation. Archbishop Charles Chaput immediately made the decision to pull Garcia out of the parish, according to Gavin, and he has not returned to the church since then.
The parish community was told about the matter on March 17 and 18. Garcia’s status at the church is pending the outcome of the police investigation.
At the time that he was placed on leave, Garcia possessed cleared criminal background checks and child abuse clearances, and had completed safe environment training courses, all of which are required of Philadelphia clergy, Gavin said.
Gavin added that no charges have been filed at this time and the archdiocese is cooperating fully with authorities.
Garcia was transferred to Saint Martin of Tours from Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish in Roxborough in November 2017. His name has since been removed from the Saint Martin website.
_______________________________________
Philadelphia priest under investigation for alleged misconduct with a minor
The Philadelphia Inquirer
The pastor of a Northeast Philadelphia Catholic parish has been placed on administrative leave while police investigate a report of alleged misconduct with a minor, a spokesman for the Archdiocese of Philadelphia said Sunday.
The Rev. Armand Garcia, formerly of St. Martin of Tours parish in the city’s Summerdale section, was removed from his post March 16 – the same day that investigators executed a search warrant on the parish rectory, said Kenneth Gavin, chief communications officer for the archdiocese.
Parishioners were informed of Garcia’s leave and the circumstances behind it last weekend. But details of the investigation remained sparse more than a week later.
A police spokeswoman declined to comment Sunday. Gavin said only that the archdiocese was cooperating fully with the probe and that no charges had been filed.
Garcia’s lawyer William J. Brennan – who has previously represented archdiocesan priests accused of child sex abuse — also declined to discuss the case in detail.
“I will say that I’ve been in touch with the authorities on Father Garcia’s behalf,” he said. “He has an unblemished record, from my understanding, and he’s a good man.”
Garcia, 48, was ordained in 2005, two years after a damning report by a Philadelphia grand jury had accused dozens of current and former area priests of sexual misconduct with children.
Gavin said that Garcia had cleared all criminal background checks and a search for past child abuse allegations. He had completed a “safe environment” training program made mandatory for all priests, parish teachers, and volunteers in the wake of the grand jury report.
He was named pastor at St. Martin of Tours in November after being transferred there earlier last year from Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish in Roxborough, where he was parochial vicar.
As of late Sunday, Garcia’s name had been removed from the St. Martin of Tours parish website and that of the National Association of Filipino Priests, an organization with which he had served as part of its leadership council.
Father Armand Garcia is 48 and was ordained in 2005. He must have been around 35 when he was ordained?
He has been active in National Association of Filipino Priests. I wonder if he was ordained in the USA or in the Philippines?