McCormack appeared unfazed by the information

By Leila Marie Lawler ( articles ) | Jan 21, 2007

In the documentary Hand of God, Paul Cultrera finds it inconceivable that then Fr. John McCormack, now Bishop of Manchester, N. H., could lie to him and escape responsibility for his part in overseeing the re-assignment of Fr. Joseph Birmingham after he was a known predator of boys.

I had commented to Diogenes that I thought Hand of God actually went somewhat easy on McCormack, limiting its focus to the Birmingham case and the interactions that Paul Cultrera had had with him over his accusations.

For more on McCormack, read this perhaps overlooked Globe Spotlight article, which outlines how McCormack protected Fr. Ronald Paquin, whose actions resulted in the death of a child. The point at which McCormack acts like the zombie from clergy central casting is near the end of the piece.

McCormack took only feeble steps to rein the predator in – once he was threatened with media exposure. At that point, any future Catholic World News reader would have known that McCormack was destined to become a bishop.

To see how things have progressed in McCormack’s career, look at this page, this page, and this page at the Bishop Accountability site.