Advertisement
Deacon Tim Reilly, the diocesan director of administration, declined to discuss a newly filed lawsuit over the abuse but promised to fight what he called “utterly preposterous” allegations that the diocese intentionally allowed the two boys to become sexual abuse victims.
The civil lawsuit was filed Wednesday in Outagamie County Circuit Court.
Brothers Todd and Troy Merryfield, now in their early 40s, claimed the diocese knew that the priest, John Feeney, had a history of abusing children but still allowed him unsupervised access to the pair at St. Nicholas Church in Freedom in the late 1970s.
The brothers and their attorney, Jeffrey Anderson, claimed the diocese had not taken responsibility for what happened and remained in a “veil of secrecy,” without appearing to try to stop sexual abuse.
Reilly called those statements “balderdash.”
“I just felt that the statements that were made demanded some reaction, because if you just listen to what the statements were, it had nothing to do with the legal proceedings,” he told reporters.
“It will give people the impression that the Catholic Church has not moved at all as a result of the sexual abuse scandals, and that’s not the case. We have done a very, very vigorous job of ensuring that we have a safe environment for children and vulnerable adults.”
Feeney, 81, was sentenced to 15 years in prison in the criminal case in 2002.
He worked in 19 communities in the eastern half of Wisconsin from 1952 through 1983, according to the lawsuit.
Peter Isely, midwest director for the victims’ advocacy group Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, said evidence shows the diocese knew of Feeney’s history and instead of dealing with it, transferred him and covered it up.
In defense of the diocese, Reilly said its policies on appropriate conduct now are audited regularly and have gotten good reviews from the independent auditor. Anyone working with the diocese must undergo background checks and take part in training on recognizing proper behavior, he said.
Substantial allegations of sexual abuse are taken directly to authorities, Reilly said, and no priests who face abuse allegations are in public priestly ministry.
Five priests were removed after a task force review of the personnel files of every priest since 1859.
SNAP has requested that the diocese release names and locations of 51 clergy allegedly known by Green Bay church officials to have abused children.
Renae Bauer, assistant director of communications for the diocese, said the names are given to authorities, and the diocese leaves it to them to investigate and prosecute.
Isely said SNAP is considering meeting with the district attorney’s office to try to determine what has been done with the information.
