poor record keeping
By Diogenes (articles ) | August 27, 2004 8:41 AM
Another glimpse into the care of souls.
Former priest James Hanley admitted he molested at least 16 boys at three Catholic churches in Morris County, and said he told former Paterson Bishop Frank Rodimer about 12 of them in 1984, long before his formal removal from the ministry last year.
... In the statement, filed yesterday in Superior Court in Morristown, Hanley said that in September 1984 during a meeting about a single accusation of sexual abuse, he told Rodimer he had molested about a dozen boys. Rodimer, however, did not ask him for the names of the other victims, Hanley said.
... In the statement, Hanley said he learned of the accusations against him at the 1984 meeting when Rodimer told him two other priests said they heard Hanley had abused a boy at St. Joseph. "He says, 'Is it true?' And I say, 'Yes, bishop, it is,'" Hanley said in the statement. "I never denied it. ... The bishop said, 'Well, Jim, I want you to know that you're not the only one (priest in the diocese to abuse boys)."
Now let's not be too quick to criticize Rodimer. After all, back in 1984 we didn't know as much about oral-genital contact with underage youth as we do today, and the same goes with the thorny problem of telling the truth to their parents.
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Posted by: -
Sep. 01, 2004 8:08 AM ET USA
Hey, maybe Rodimer was saying that he did it too.
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Posted by: patriot6908 -
Aug. 27, 2004 12:44 PM ET USA
There are sins that cry to heaven. Hanley committed many that still can be forgiven. But Rodimer? He sinned against the boys, their parents, his Church, society, and his priest who came to him as a sinner in need of correction and removal from the priesthood.
