Bishop Accountability

Ten-Minute Activist: Brief
Email or Phone Call
Ask Attorney
General Tom Reilly to Open a Grand Jury Investigation into Possible
Crimes against Children in the Springfield
Diocese

Bishop Thomas Dupré of Springfield MA
resigned abruptly last week after a newspaper published accusations
that he had molested two boys in the 1970s and 1980s. Dupré had been
under fire for years for his diocese’s financial support of Richard
Lavigne, suspected murderer of a 13-year-old altar boy – but news
that the bishop himself might have molested children deepened
concerns about the extent to which he may have harbored and
supported other predatory priests.

Victims and their advocates have called on Massachusetts Attorney
General Tom Reilly to open a grand-jury investigation into possible crimes
against children by the priests and bishops of Springfield. Please call or
send a brief email to Reilly’s office supporting this request.

How You Can Help

Contact the office of Tom Reilly, attorney general of
Massachusetts.

Ask him to launch a grand jury investigation into sex abuse crimes
against children by the diocese of Springfield

Consider also asking him to:
* Publish a written
report of his findings, as he did on the Boston Archdiocese
after a phone and email campaign urging him to do so.
*
Release church files to the public, as was done by the
New Hampshire AG, who also wrote a report.
* Not shy away from
prosecuting Thomas Dupré and other diocesan officials.
Many survivors and advocates believe that Reilly should have indicted
Cardinal Law and other Boston archdiocesan officials. See Marci Hamilton
on criminal
charges.

* If you are a Massachusetts voter, please note that
in your message, but your input is just as valuable if you are from out of
state.

Contact
Information

To reach Massachusetts
Attorney General Tom Reilly:

* Phone: (617) 727-2200 and press 0 to get the operator. Ask to be
connected to the AG's office.
* Email: [email-masked]
* Web site:
http://www.ago.state.ma.us/
* Mail: 1 Ashburton Place,
Boston MA 02108-1698
* Please let us
know if you call or write.

Important Articles and Other
Sources

* Bishop Dupré resigned one day after The Republican newspaper reported
child sexual abuse allegations against him. See article on the accusation,
and two articles on the resignation {1}
{2}.

*
Dupré kept convicted child molester Richard Lavigne on the payroll for
years, though the diocese had known since the 1972 murder of 13-year-old
Danny Croteau that local law enforcement believed that Lavigne was the
killer. See the remarkable articles on Danny's
murder and Fr. James Scahill's support
of a Lavigne victim.

* In addition to taking care of Lavigne, Dupré set up a fund for
priests charged with sexual misconduct (called the “felons’ fund” by a
critic). He also approved a pitbull tactic in court against victims that
no other Massachusetts diocese used. None of these practices was cited in
the glowing report
card the diocese received from the Gavin Group. In January 2004, the
auditing group pronounced the diocese in full compliance with the USCCB
Norms and Charter on clergy sexual abuse. See an overview
of Dupré’s tenure and an article
on the audit results.

* Whistle-blower Fr. James Scahill has protested
Dupré’s support of Lavigne by withholding his parish’s six percent
contribution to the diocese. He has also accused Dupré of saying that
diocesan personnel files had been destroyed. See Scahill's deposition
on the files and Dupré's response,
and an important follow-up article
on the Springfield documents.

* Fr. Bruce Teague also experienced Dupré’s protectiveness towards
Lavigne. In 1997, when Teague saw the convicted child molester hanging
around his church, volunteering to hear children’s confessions, he called
the police. The diocese rebuked
Teague for going outside the church and eventually forced him out of the
parish.

* Statement by SNAP in response to the accusation
against Dupré.

* Statement
by SNAP in response to news that Fr. Scahill had tried to warn Boston
Archbishop O’Malley about the allegations against Dupré.

Previous Ten-Minute Activist
Features

* Bishop
Admits That He Is Keeping an Accused Priest in Ministry (12/5/03)
*
Audit
the Audit: USCCB Audit Needs Local Perspectives (1/9-16/04)
* Join
the Dialogue among NY Priests and Bishops (1/23/04)
* Statute
of Limitations: Help Reform the Indiana Law (1/30/04)
* Accused
Priests Are Saying Mass in Los Angeles Parishes (2/6/04)

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