The sexual abuse scandal in Manchester diocese of

New Hampshire New Hampshire is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...

is a significant episode in the series of

Catholic sex abuse cases There have been many cases of sexual abuse of children by Catholic priests, nuns, Popes and other members of religious life. In the 20th and 21st centuries, the cases have involved many allegations, investigations, trials, convictions, ack ...

in the United States and Ireland.

Management by Mgr. Gendron

Mgr. Odore Joseph Gendron was criticized for his management of

sexual abuse Sexual abuse or sex abuse, also referred to as molestation, is abusive sexual behavior by one person upon another. It is often perpetrated using force or by taking advantage of another. Molestation often refers to an instance of sexual assa ...

cases among the clergy. He assigned Rev
Paul Aube
to a

Rochester Rochester may refer to: Places Australia * Rochester, Victoria Canada * Rochester, Alberta United Kingdom *Rochester, Kent ** City of Rochester-upon-Medway (1982–1998), district council area ** History of Rochester, Kent ** HM Prison ...

parish and put him in charge of a youth program even though Aube had confessed to molesting a minor and requested to be kept away from children. Aube allegedly abused at least seven minors at Rochester.

Destroying documents

Gendron was accused of destroying documents detailing

child sexual abuse Child sexual abuse (CSA), also called child molestation, is a form of child abuse in which an adult or older adolescent uses a child for sexual stimulation. Forms of child sexual abuse include engaging in sexual activities with a child (whet ...

by Revs. Philip Petit and Gordon MacRae during the 1980s.

14 priests named for abuse

In early 2002, Bishop John McCormack publicly announced the names of 14 priests in the diocese who had been accused of sexually abusing children. In April of that same year, he was removed from his post as

chairman The chairperson, also chairman, chairwoman or chair, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the grou ...

of the

United States Conference of Catholic Bishops The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) is the episcopal conference of the Catholic Church in the United States. Founded in 1966 as the joint National Conference of Catholic Bishops (NCCB) and United States Catholic Conference (US ...

' Ad Hoc Committee on Sexual Abuse. McCormack later admitted to reassigning pedophilic priests, but claimed poor file-keeping had kept him from knowing the full extent of the problem.

Calls for resignation

Despite repeated calls for his resignation, including from the ''

New Hampshire Union Leader The ''New Hampshire Union Leader'' is a daily newspaper from Manchester, the largest city in the U.S. state of New Hampshire. On Sundays, it publishes as the ''New Hampshire Sunday News.'' Founded in 1863, the paper was best known for the conse ...

'', he has refused to do so, stating, "Pope John Paul II appointed me to be your shepherd...I will remain otoil ceaselessly on your behalf as bishop of Manchester."

Accusation of lying about abuse

During a

Mass Mass is an intrinsic property of a body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the quantity of matter in a physical body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physics. It was found that different atoms and different elementar ...

in October 2002, several members of the congregation accused McCormack of lying about a priest he assigned to the

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or m ...

without disclosing the latter's affair with a teenage boy, leading the Bishop to shout, "I'm not lying!"

2002-03 Settlement of Abuse Cases

In 2003, the diocese reached a settlement with the New Hampshire Attorney General's Office, which was investigating the child sex abuse scandal. The settlement spared the diocese from being criminally charged. In all, in the period of 2002–03, the diocese agreed to a $15.5 million settlement involving 176 claims of sex abuse. The May 2003 settlement of 61 abuse claims for $6.5 million handled by Manchester attorney Ovide M. Lamontagne as counsel for the Manchester Diocese prevented the diocese from being criminally prosecuted. In December 2002, the diocese had admitted that its failure to protect children from sexual abuse may have been a violation of criminal law, becoming the first diocese in the United States to do so. Under threat of indictment by the New Hampshire Attorney General, McCormack signed an agreement acknowledging that the Attorney General office possessed evidence sufficient to win convictions as part of the settlement. Lamontagne claimed that McCormack and other prominent church members wanted a speedy settlement and, in an example of behaving "pastorally" rather than as a litigant, instructed their attorneys to take a moderate stance and eschew hardline legal tactics. Lamontagne said of the diocese's legal strategy, "That is not typical in terms of client requests."

Student petition against the bishop

In 2005, McCormack spoke at a

baccalaureate service A baccalaureate service (or baccalaureate Mass) is a celebration that honors a graduating class from a college, high school, or middle school. The event is typically a Christianity-based interdenominational (ecumenical) service, though it may ...

Trinity High School Trinity High School is the name of high schools: United Kingdom * Trinity High School, Renfrew, Renfrewshire, Scotland * Trinity High School, Rutherglen, Lanarkshire, Scotland * Trinity High School and Sixth Form Centre, in Redditch, England *Trini ...

despite a student petition asking him not to attend because of his role in the sex abuse scandal.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Manchester New Hampshire Catholic Church sexual abuse scandals in the United States