by Leslie C. Griffin^*

There is one Roman Catholic diocese in Vermont, the Diocese of Burlington.¹

On September 30, 2024, Kevin O’Connor reported that the diocese had gone into bankruptcy, becoming the fortieth Catholic organization to do so.² In the bankruptcy papers, Bishop John McDermott of the diocese reported that since 2006, the court had settled 67 lawsuits for $34 million. Twenty lawsuits were settled after the Vermont legislature ended the statute of limitations [SOL] for abuse lawsuits in 2019.

The statute of limitations determines when abuse victims can get into court and when the courts are closed to them. The legislature opened the courts in 2019. The Vermont Supreme Court rejected Catholic defendants’ argument that the 2019 statute of limitations was unconstitutional because it “unfairly revived an ancient claim that had long been barred by the limitations period and this amounted to a denial of due process because it violated their right to no longer be sued.”³ The court ruled instead that Catholic defendants had no “vested right” in the expired SOL and so had suffered no procedural or substantive due process violation.⁴ The open SOL is good.

The church blamed the settlements and the new-SOL lawsuits for forcing it into bankruptcy as they had “insufficient assets” to compensate the victims.⁵

Bankruptcy stops the victims’ lawsuits. Instead of the civil courts, the bankruptcy courts determine what damages abuse victims will receive, if any. Plaintiffs have to file as creditors of the bankrupt institution.⁶ The Archdiocese of New Orleans, Louisiana, for example, has been in a long bankruptcy that has delayed all the civil lawsuits that the state’s laws allow.

O’Connor of VTDigger has for years uncovered the details of Vermont Catholics abuse of children. I am grateful he keeps exposing all the details. Why bankruptcy? On September 11, 2024, he reported that at least 16 new civil cases have been filed against the diocese. The filings were permitted by Vermont’s decision to open its statute of limitations (SOL) to allow abuse victims to file civil lawsuits at any time. In the past, SOLs kept many lawsuits out of court.⁷

The first case, about defrocked priest Edward Paquette, was supposed to open soon in Chittenden County Superior Court. Paquette had “more than three dozen civil actions” against him in the past. However, a judge recently called off the trial for no known reason. One plaintiff’s attorney said “the diocese continues to try to avoid liability and protect its assets from survivors of priest abuse.” ⁸

The current events remind us to examine the long history of Vermont Catholic abuse, to see what has been reported and what was missed.

There are many things that block victims’ access to the courts of law.

Blocking Access to Court

Some states apply the principle of charitable immunity to the abuse cases. Charitable immunity says charities cannot pay damages in court, presumably because they are busy doing good work. Vermont does not apply charitable immunity to the sex abuse cases. The Vermont Supreme Court refused to apply it in Foster v. Roman Catholic Diocese, 116 Vt. 124, 137 (Vt. 1950), stating: “The fact that this defendant is a privately conducted religious and charitable institution does not entitle it to any exemption or immunity from liability for injury caused by negligence.”⁹ 

Vermont has a clergy reporting law, but it exempts clergy when they are “acting as spiritual advisers or hearing a confession.”¹⁰ According to the statute:

“A member of the clergy shall not be required to make a report under this section if the report would be based upon information revealed in a communication that is as follows:

Made to a member of the clergy acting in his or her capacity as spiritual advisor;

Intended by the parties to be confidential at the time the communication is made;

Intended by the communicant to be an act of contrition or a matter of conscience;

Required to be confidential by religious law, doctrine, or tenet.” ¹¹

Lawmakers have tried to remove that exemption from the law. The Vermont bishop recently testified that confession must remain confidential, even when it reveals child abuse. ¹² The church has always protected its privacy and confidentiality against any legal claims and continues to do so. The bill did not meet its deadline, so the reporting exemption is still in place.¹³

In 2007, the federal district court of Vermont dismissed a pro se and in forma pauperis lawsuit filed by Kentucky prisoner Christopher Shaimas, who alleged that two unnamed priests had molested him at Camp Tara in Colchester, Vermont, when he was 8 and then 17 and 19 years old. Shaimas sued the diocese, the camp, Catholic Charities of Vermont, and the unnamed priests. The case was dismissed for lack of diversity and federal question jurisdiction.¹⁴

And the most constant block of survivors’ lawsuits are the statutes of limitations, which often keep victims out of court. It was good for survivors of abuse that the legislature opened the courts to them in 2019 and the Vermont Supreme Court concluded that was constitutional.

Pre-2019 SOLs

In 1990, Vermont adopted a statute identifying a six-year statute from the time of injury or the time of victim’s discovery of the injury, whichever was later. The statute was retroactive to July 1, 1984.

In Turner v. Roman Catholic Diocese of Burlington,¹⁵ the abuse took place in 1977 and the lawsuit was filed in 2004. James Turner said he was not aware of the abuse until 2002, but the diocese argued that Turner had discussed the abuse with his family in 1981, and so his case could not be litigated under the six-year statute. Notice that 1977 and 1981 are both before the July 1, 1984 date. The court ruled against the defendants, however, because the evidence was that “plaintiff first linked his long-term mental health issues to Willis’s conduct in 2002 or 2004, well after the 1984 cut-off date.”¹⁶ However, it then ruled the trial court was wrong to say the trial judge could have ruled as a matter of law that the case could proceed because “Willis’s position as a priest in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Burlington, and the evidence that plaintiff knew that Willis had abused others, were sufficient for the jury to find that plaintiff was on inquiry notice from those facts, and to conclude that the time for filing an action against defendant had commenced.”¹⁷ The court ruled that the SOL issue was a jury question and not for the trial court to take away from the jury.

Edward Colomb was abused by Father Edward Paquette in 1974, when Colomb was 13 years old. On October 20, 2010, when he was 49 years old, Colomb filed suit against the Diocese of Burlington for its negligent hiring and supervision of Paquette and its breach of a fiduciary duty to Colomb. Vermont’s six-year statute applied retroactively only to lawsuits up until July 1, 1984, and so the defendants thought the case should be dismissed. However, the district court emphasized that Vermont law distinguished between the abuse itself and injuries that the victim suffered from the abuse. It was impossible for the federal district judge to determine if Colomb had been aware of those injuries before 2004, so the court left it to the jury to decide.¹⁸

Those cases show the ins and outs of applying a six-year SOL. Vermont eliminated the civil SOL for childhood sexual abuse claims as of July 1, 2019.¹⁹ That opened the courts to many victims of abuse.

The Vermont Attorney General’s 2002 report reviewed allegations against 10 current and 30 former priests. The report was undertaken because of the publicity about Massachusetts abuse and the movie Spotlight. None of them was prosecuted because of the criminal SOL. ²⁰ It’s interesting that the report was never released by the attorney general.²¹

Vermont did not charge many priests criminally because the statute of limitations barred the claims. ²²

Gary J. Mercure was a defendant in a Vermont case that the trial took jurisdiction over even though it involved the Roman Catholic diocese of Albany.²³ The Second Circuit ruled that the District Court of Vermont did not have jurisdiction over a lawsuit that involved no Vermont contacts.²⁴ Mercure was accused of abuse in numerous states.

In Burlington, there was allegedly only one post-2002 claim. Vermont had become more strict that year, and Stephen J. Nichols got 30 days in jail for touching a minor in 2005.²⁵ The diocese received a complaint about Nichols in 2005 and reported it to the police. He was placed on leave in April 2006 and charged with sexually molesting a male teen in August 2006. He pled guilty in 2007, and was sentenced to 30 days jail and two years probation. He was laicized in 2015. ²⁶

By fall 2002, 40 civil lawsuits were filed against the Vermont diocese. ²⁷

Other pre-2019 Cases

Terry Reis Kennedy v. Roman Catholic Diocese of Burlington, Vermont, 921 F.Supp. 231 (D. Vermont, Apr. 5, 1996) had a female parishioner claiming a priest’s sexual abuse and diocesan liability. She failed to produce sufficient evidence to hold the diocese liable.

In 2009, the Vermont Supreme Court rejected the Burlington diocese’s arguments that allowing a victim to sue it for negligent hiring and negligent supervision intruded on an ecclesiastical decision, violated Free Exercise and Establishment, and interfered with the church’s religious autonomy over its own decisions.²⁸ The court ruled that the defendant must obey the tort laws, which are neutral laws of general applicability. The law was not directed at a religion, nor had the defendant identified any doctrine that would be burdened by following the law. The Establishment Clause was not violated because there was no entanglement in holding the diocese to secular legal standards. The court rejected the autonomy argument because it did not free the defendant from “any and all accountability in secular courts.”²⁹

In Perry Babel v. Roman Catholic Diocese of Burlington, 2008 WL 4054379 (Vt.Super.), the jury found that the diocese was negligent in its supervision of abusing priest Paquette. It awarded compensatory damages of $50,000 and punitive damages of $7,750,000 for the diocese’s conduct.

2019 SOL New Suits

Vermont eliminated the civil SOL for childhood sexual abuse claims as of July 1, 2019.³⁰ In addition, an entity, including a church or diocese, may be sued if it was grossly negligent in such a case. Vermont has a “permanent revival window” that applies retroactively. It has no criminal SOL for aggravated sexual assault of a child or sexual exploitation of a minor.³¹ The 2019 change in the SOL was huge, as more abuse cases are allowed by it.

The late Jerome O’Neill was the lawyer for many plaintiffs, including against Conrad Bessette, who was sued in 2019 under Vermont’s new law eliminating the SOL.³² Five new lawsuits were filed as of August 27, 2019.³³ Bessette was relieved of duties in 1990 and laicized in 2011. In 2008, Vermont’s Superior Court had rejected the claim that Bishop Marshall’s communications with Bessette’s physicians were protected by the physician-patient privilege.³⁴ It appears Bessette was also sued in New York.³⁵ Edward Paquette and Alfred Willis are included in stories about the updated SOL. Lawyer O’Neill said Bishop Marshall also should have been prosecuted. Bishop Marshall’s name was recently removed from a Morrisville elementary school due to his history of abuse, and the John A. Marshall School became All Saints Catholic Academy. Survivor Maura Labelle expressed her approval of the change in name.³⁶

Christopher Silletti filed a lawsuit against the Diocese of Burlington in May 2021. The abuser was Leo Courcy, and the abuse took place in 1978 when Silletti was 5 or 6 years old. Courcy was a friend of Silletti’s family and would abuse Silletti when he visited the home. The lawsuit accuses the diocese of covering up the abuse. The church employed Courcy even though he was treated for psychosis and psychosexual issues. Courcy also served in Texas, New Mexico, and Canada, and has faced lawsuits in New Mexico.³⁷ Courcy is listed on the diocese’s list of abusers. Pope Benedict XVI laicized Courcy in 2009.

In January 2021, Patty Rondeau said Daniel F. Roberts had assaulted her in 1949, when she was 10 years old, in a church in White River Junction. In the past, Rondeau’s father told the police and the head of the parish, and Roberts was transferred to another parish in Burlington, where he worked in several schools until he retired in 1980.³⁸ At 82 years old, Rondeau told the Valley News how she was retraumatized in 1971, when Roberts appeared for a christening party for one of her sisters, shaken despite her sister’s noting that the abuse was long ago. Rondeau felt supported when she saw Roberts’ name on the list of abusers in 2019. More than 70 years after the assault, she still remembers that Roberts unbuttoned her buttons and hurt her and that she ran home screaming and her parents acted. She stopped going to church; “he took my Catholic faith.” Rondeau resisted her family’s urges to forgive Roberts and give him her blessing. The assault has affected her whole life.³⁹

Often civil cases against the church are settled instead of litigated.

Settlements

In 2004, Bishop Kenneth A. Angell released a letter identifying 25 credibly accused priests of 31 alleged victims. The costs were $436,000: $225,000 and $118,000 for settlements, $56,000 for treatment of victims, and $37,000 for treatment of offenders. ⁴⁰ The bishop’s cover letter explained his diocese’s participation in the John Jay Report, which was to be released on February 27, 2004. The bishops had asked the City University of New York to produce a study of abuse in the dioceses. Bishop Angell said he was publicly releasing information that had been provided to the Jay Report. He noted that all these cases occurred before 1989, though they were reported later. ⁴¹

The attached John Jay materials noted that of the 25 abusers, 10 were dead, four had left the ministry, one was reinstated in ministry, and 10 were retired with restrictions on public ministry. Of the 31 victims, six filed at the time of the report, with three settling. One more case was filed, for seven total, with five cases settled. Two remained open. Two claims were settled outside of legal procedures. Ten victims accepted pastoral and counseling services. ⁴²

The cost of individual settlement claims rose to $1 million by 2006.⁴³ The bishop then put 130 parishes into trusts that could be used for “pious, charitable or educational purposes” and shielded them from abuse liability.⁴⁴ By 2005, more than a dozen people had filed, seeking $30 million. By 2006, there were 17 new clients, now including claims against a former priest, Edward Paquette, whose files were released by order of the court to the Attorney General. ⁴⁵ The priest’s papers opened the door to multimillion dollar jury verdicts. In the first Paquette case, the parties came to a $965,000 settlement. The court lifted its gag order, so post-settlement the clients could talk–and they did. The papers showed Vermont’s leaders knew Paquette had been dismissed for abuse in two other states yet employed him in three Vermont locations. ⁴⁶

In 2007, another of Paquette’s victims received an $8.7 million jury verdict. ⁴⁷ There were subsequent verdicts of $3.6 million and $2.2 million against Paquette in 2009. ⁴⁸ In 2008, there was one mistrial. In May 2010, a group of thirty cases was settled for about $20 million.⁴⁹ Three cases on appeal were settled. Four suits were filed in 2010, and a dozen settled in 2013 for $6.75 million. ⁵⁰ Forrest W. Rouelle was “mentioned” in the 2008 trial of Burlington Diocese and Edward Paquette. ⁵¹

In 2008, survivor John Perrotte, who accused Alfred Willis of sexual abuse, settled the case for $170,000.⁵² James Turner’s 2004 case against Willis, which we saw above, had been dismissed under the statute of limitations. In 2018, another lawsuit against Willis by an unnamed victim was settled.⁵³ In 2010, 26 altar boys filed lawsuits that were settled for $18 million. By 2013, the diocese had paid more than $30 million to settle 40 allegations by altar boys. The diocese sold land and property to help pay for the settlements.⁵⁴ One report says the diocese has paid tens of millions of dollars in settling these cases.⁵⁵ In 2022, Vermont settled a lawsuit against Roger W. Carlin for abuse of a 9-year-old altar boy in 1966 to 1967. The victim’s lawyers asked Vermont to add Carlin’s name to its list of abusive priests.⁵⁶

Two women accused Vermont’s Benjamin Wysolmerski, the teacher who taught them catechism, of raping them when they were teenage girls. Although one of the girls became pregnant, and Wysolmerski paid for her abortion, the church believed the priest and not the women. Wysolmerski did not go to prison, but the women received a settlement. ⁵⁷ Wysolmerski resigned and his faculties were revoked in 1993 and he died in 1994.⁵⁸ Bishop Marshall told Terry Reis Kennedy that there was nothing to support her claims about Benjamin Wysolmerski’s rape. Wysolmerski had another suit by Janet Labelle Prince, who said he had raped her as a child and again after she was married, who reached an out-of-court settlement for her case. ⁵⁹

Many Vermont victims settled because the church was dragging them through the lawsuits, arguing, for example, that the rape statute did not apply to male victims, but only to females. ⁶⁰ The investigation showed massive amounts of abuse that the church continued to hide and fight in court.

Lawyer Jerome O’Neill brought 55 lawsuits for $31.5 million in settlements. John “Jack” Kenney was named in a 2006 abuse complaint. His was one of two dozen cases settled in 2010 for more than $20 million. David Fortin, Kenney’s victim, explained that the constant abuse he had suffered over several years would have been difficult to report when it happened. Kenney was accused in 2006 of abusing a teenage boy in 1962 to 1965. That case was settled and Kenney was removed from ministry. In 2018, the church lifted the silence from the earlier agreements. ⁶¹

In 2005 Jerome O’Neill filed suits for 10 more clients, charging four Vermont priests with child sexual abuse. These cases, with damages in the millions, sought liens on church property. The church did not have insurance, but had $65 million worth of property in Burlington. The abusers had not been prosecuted criminally because of the SOL. In the past two years the diocese had paid $400,000 to settle four cases. Six of the 10 cases involved Paquette, and two involved Alfred Willis. Lawsuits were also filed against James Dunn and George Paulin. The diocese had already paid $20,000 to settle a prior case against Paulin and $150,000 for one against Willis. ⁶²

O’Neill filed suits for an additional 17 clients, including 12 against Paquette. In 2003 and 2004, the diocese paid: $20,000 for a case against Paulin; $120,000 to settle another case against James J. McShane, who was involved with the camps and Boy Scouts; and $150,000 in a case against Alfred Willis.⁶³ In January 2013, the diocese settled the case of a former altar boy against Paquette.⁶⁴

James J. McShane had 80 slides of naked boys in his cabin at Camp Holy Cross. Camp officials told Bishop John Marshall, who said the boys should not have been in McShane’s cabin. McShane was placed on leave in 2002. He was sued for abuse, and settled one lawsuit for $120,000. George A. Paulin settled numerous cases for abuse of boys in the 1980s, another suit in 2004, which settled for $135,000, and a third claim settled in 2008. One of his victims was George Babeu, who settled with the Diocese in 2003 for “a low amount” of money for claims against George Paulin and Richard Lavigne. Marshall had ignored earlier claims.⁶⁵

Alfred Willis was placed on leave in 1980 and laicized in 1985. He has numerous cases and settlements for abuse from the 1970s. A 2004 settlement for $170,000. The 2004 case was Robert Douglas, who insisted the church acknowledge it had transferred Willis to Milton even though they knew he had abused people in Burlington.⁶⁶ Bishop Marshall transferred Willis to Milton where he continued to abuse and settled one 2004 case for $150,000. He refused to testify in the Madden case. Another case in 2008 settled for $170,000. New cases were filed in 2010, and one settled in 2013. A December 2018 suit was settled in the same month, and another filed in 2019. ⁶⁷

A lawsuit against Paquette, Alfred Willis and Joseph Dussault was settled before trial.⁶⁸

The Society of St. Edmund kept its abuse more hidden, revealing it only on an “obscure website.”⁶⁹ The Edmundites paid for counseling for two of John A. Stankiewicz’s victims. ⁷⁰ John Waddington of Connecticut, a victim of “the Edmundites’ most notorious abuser,” Charles G. Many, placed ads looking for other victims. The Edmundites paid part of a Connecticut settlement. Waddington received $850,000 in a case that was subsequently reversed. He later received no money and was arrested for trespass at St. Michael’s.⁷¹

Edward Foster was accused of abuse in the early 1970s of a boy from seventh grade until high school. John Mahoney, his victim, later served on Vermont’s committee about abuse.⁷² Mahoney received a monetary settlement in the 2000s. ⁷³

As noted earlier, John Marshall, bishop from 1971-1991, received a lot of attention for abuse. He transferred Edward Paquette to three locations where he continued to abuse boys. Nine of 11 cases were in Burlington and two in Montpelier. Bishop Marshall was quiet on the James McShane pictures. He, transferred Alfred Willis to Milton where Willis continued to abuse and settled a 2004 case for $150,000. He refused to testify in the Michael Madden orphanage abuse case. He told Terry Reis Kennedy that there was nothing to support her claims about Benjamin Wysolmerski’s rape. Wysolmerski was also accused by Janet Labelle Prince, who reached an out-of-court settlement. ⁷⁴

In 2013, the church paid another $6.75 million to resolve 12 cases. ⁷⁵ They thought that might be the end of it. Then Vermont reopened the SOL.

Other abusers have gradually been identified, especially Edmundite priests.

Other Abusers

The Edmundites released their list of credible accusations “only on an obscure website where it has gone virtually unnoticed.” ⁷⁶ Nine of the 10 were not on the diocesan report. Several of the priests lived on campus and two in retirement. The Attorney General asked them how to access the site. John A. Lanoue was on that list. ⁷⁷

John A. Lanoue, an Edmundite, was added to the diocese’s list in 2019.⁷⁸ A 1997 lawsuit claimed he abused a boy at Holy Family Parish. The boy’s father confronted Lanoue in front of the St. Michael’s College president and Lanoue admitted the abuse. ⁷⁹ The college president said he would do something but did not.

The abuse did not take place at St. Michael’s, yet John A. Stankiewicz⁸⁰ and Nelson B. Ziter were well-known figures there. Stankiewicz had two substantiated charges against him in 1992 for abuse in the 1950s. ⁸¹ The Edmundites paid for counseling for two of his victims. Ziter was accused of abuse in Alabama.⁸²

The Edmundites, who paid part of a Connecticut settlement, included all accused, not just those credibly accused, on their website. Charles G. Many, “the Edmundites’ most notorious abuser,” appeared on both lists. One of his victims, John Waddington of Connecticut, placed ads looking for other victims. Waddington received $850,000 in an initial case that was later reversed. He received no money and was arrested for trespass at St. Michael’s.⁸³

Edmundite Paul A. Pinard was accused of molesting children in the 1980s and was expelled from a Connecticut location. He returned to live at St. Michael’s. Aime J. Trahan was listed for abuse committed in the 1950s and reported in 2004; he died in 1984. Edward J. Stapleton was charged in 2004 for abuse committed in 1974. Edward O. Leary is listed for unsubstantiated claims discharged in 1999. ⁸⁴ Paul I. Plouffe was added to the Edmundites’ list in 2019 for an accusation of abuse in 1945 and received in 2006.⁸⁵

Donal D. Ward had accusations of abuse of a minor in 2002 and was also accused of grooming younger men and then having sexual relations with them. He resigned and his faculties were revoked in 2002.⁸⁶

Robert J. Baffa, James E. Beauregard, Paul M. Bresnehan, Donald A. Bruneau, James J. Campbell, John F. Eastman, James F. Foley, William P. Gallagher, Edward J. Gelineau, John A. Guichard, Walter D. Miller, Joseph Maxime Mooney, George O. Murtagh, Raymond C. Provost, Daniel F. Roberts, Forrest W. Rouelle, Emily W. Savary, Ronald A. Soutiere, Richard E. Thompson, Charles A. Towne, Raymond D. Walsh are among those listed on the diocese’s accused list in 2019. These websites show many more details about their abuse. ⁸⁷

The List

Archdioceses and Dioceses decide all the time whether or not to release the names of their abusers. The Diocese of Burlington, Vermont’s report from 1950 to 2019 included the following names.⁸⁸

Commentators are always asking if the list is really complete. Horowitz Law has added nine names to the list of abusers of abusers quoted below: Roger W. Carlin, James Dunn, Bishop Louis Gelineau, John Lanoue, John Milanese, Paul Plouffe, John Stankiewicz, Edward Stapleton (Edmundite), and Aime Trahan (Edmundite).⁸⁹ Horowitz reports one civil claim against Dunn but has no further record of it.⁹⁰

Credibly Accused Priests

Category A: Priests that were assigned in Vermont and abused children here. This would include both those considered Diocesan priests and those from other Religious Orders (i.e. Edmundites, Maryknoll, Paraclete) that accepted assignment in the Vermont Diocese.

1. Robert J. Baffa. Ordained 1966. Faculties withdrawn, June 19, 2002. Retired same date. Died 2013.
2. Donald A. Bean. Ordained 1963. Retired, Dec. 1, 1994. Died 2005.
3. James E. Beauregard. Ordained 1970. Retired, Jan. 11, 2002. Public Priestly faculties removed Sept. 11, 2013, by Bishop Salvatore Matano. Died July 28, 2015.
4. Conrad A. Bessette. Ordained, 1973. Relieved of duties in diocese, June 14, 1990 by Bishop John A. Marshall. Public Priestly facilities revoked, December 14, 2004 by Bishop Kenneth Angell. Laicized: June 10, 2011 by Pope Benedict XVI. Living.
5. Paul M. Bresnahan. Ordained, 1954. Retired May 15, 2002. Died July 23, 2003.
6. Donald A. Bruneau. Ordained 1954. Died June 2, 1994.
7. James J. Campbell. Ordained 1942. Left diocese March 1965. Left priesthood, married in 1968. Presumed dead.
8. Leo J. Courcy Jr. Ordained 1962. Public Priestly faculties revoked, Feb. 19, 1993 by Bishop Kenneth A. Angell. Laicized, June 20, 2009 by Bishop Salvatore Matano and Pope Benedict XVI. Living. Also credibly accused of sexually abusing a minor in Santa Fe.
9. Robert E. Devoy. Ordained 1903. Died 1935. Allegation of abuse first received in 1996, approximately 41 years after his death.
10. Joseph H. Dussault. Ordained 1934. Retired June 22, 1978. Died, Dec. 11, 1987.
11. John F. Eastman. Ordained 1946. Suspended August 1953. Relocated to Monterrey-Fresno, CA 1955-67. Tried for re-instatement in Vermont, denied, 1989. Presumed dead.
12. James F. Foley. Ordained 1949. Retired 1984. Died 2002.
13. Edward C. Foster. Ordained 1951. Public Priestly faculties revoked, May 11, 1994 by Bishop Kenneth Angell. Retired June 22, 1994.
14. William P. Gallagher. Ordained 1965. Administrative leave, May 22, 2002 by Bishop Kenneth A. Angell; withdrawn May 28, 2002 when resignation requested. Resigned May 31, 2003. Retired June 19, 2002. Died Oct. 13, 2003.
15. Edward J. Gelineau. Ordained 1942. Retired June 20, 1990. Died, June 18, 2010.
16. John A. Guischard. Ordained 1968. Retired in 1991 while staying in campus ministry. Died 2007.
17. John B. “Jack” Kenney. Ordained 1957. Retired 1997. Living.
18. Dennis J. LaRoche. Ordained 1974. August 1992, assignment “terminated” and returned to Maryknolls. Left ministry by Feb. 1, 1993. Also credibly accused of sexual abuse of a minor in Houston Diocese.
19. Michael K. Madden. Ordained 1970. Public Priestly faculties revoked. Issued April 18, 1988 by Bishop John A. Marshall. Resigned, July 12, 1988. Died Sept. 10, 2000.
20. Charles G. Many. Ordained 1974. Removed from ministry by Edmundites in 1986. Left the priesthood, July 22, 1994. Laicized July 25, 1995 by Pope John Paul II. Living. Also credibly accused of abuse of a minor in Connecticut.
21. James J. McShane Jr. Ordained 1966. Public Priestly faculties revoked and administrative leave, May 24, 2002 by Bishop Kenneth Angell. Resignation as Pastor Jan. 20, 2003. Living.
22. Brian E. Mead. Ordained 1969. Administrative leave, May 24, 2002, by Bishop Kenneth A. Angell. Resignation as pastor Jan. 17, 2003. Public Priestly faculties revoked, Dec. 6, 2004 by Bishop Kenneth A. Angell. Living.
23. Walter D. Miller. Ordained 1961. Resigned several posts including Chancellor, Secretary to Bishop, Judicial Vicar, Dec. 17, 2004. Retired Dec. 17, 2004. Public Priestly faculties revoked, Jan. 7, 2005 by Bishop Kenneth A. Angell. Died Jan. 2, 2014.
24. Joseph Maxime Mooney. Ordained 1916. Retired (ill health) Mar. 9, 1956. Died Dec. 1965.
25. George O. Murtagh. Ordained 1950. Resigned as Pastor on Oct. 4, 1987 and transferred to Hartford, Conn. Retired: Nov. 1, 1991. Public Priestly faculties revoked: Dec. 17, 1992 by Bishop Kenneth A. Angell; Died: Dec. 7, 2011.
26. Stephen J. Nichols. Ordained 1986. Leave of absence: April 3, 2006 by Bishop Salvatore Matano. Resigned as Pastor June 7, 2007. Laicized: Jan. 23, 2015 by Pope Francis. Living.
27. Edward O. Paquette. Ordained 1957. Laicized: Jan. 31, 2009 by Bishop John Michael D’Arcy (Fort Wayne-South Bend) and Pope Benedict XVI. Living. Credibly accused of abuse of a minor in Fall River (Mass.) Diocese. Credibly accused of abuse of a minor in Fort Wayne-South Bend (Indiana) Diocese.
28. George A. Paulin. Ordained 1970. Administrative leave/suspended: May 24, 2002 by Bishop Kenneth A. Angell. Public Priestly faculties revoked May 24, 2002 by Bishop Kenneth A. Angell. Resigned as Pastor Jan. 1, 2003. Living.
29. Raymond C. Provost. Ordained 1936. Retired for health, Nov. 28, 1975, but helped in parishes until 1995. Died Aug. 13, 1998. Allegation of abuse first received in 2005, approximately 7 years after his death.
30. Daniel F. Roberts. Ordained 1945. Retired Oct. 1, 1980. Died: Dec. 12, 1981. Allegation of abuse first received in 2002, approximately 21 years after his death.
31. Forrest W. Rouelle. Ordained 1956. Retired Jan. 1998. Died Mar. 25, 1998.
32. Emile W. Savary. Ordained 1954. Died June 8, 1966. Allegation of abuse first received in 1996, approximately 30 years after his death.
33. Ronald A. Soutiere. Ordained 1974. Resigned as Pastor April 2002. Administrative leave, June 2002. Public Priestly faculties revoked, Nov. 2, 2004 by Bishop Kenneth A. Angell. Living.
34. Richard E. Thompson. Ordained 1968. Suspended from duties Aug. 1, 1984 by Bishop John A. Marshall. Died Sept. 23, 2006.
35. Charles A. Towne. Ordained 1931. Retired Aug. 23, 1972. Died Feb. 15, 1982.
36. Raymond D. Walsh. Ordained 1954. Retired June 1998. Died Jun. 24, 2019.
37. Donal D. Ward. Ordained 1963. Administrative Leave, May 24, 2002. Resignation, Oct. 2, 2002. Public Priestly faculties revoked, Oct. 4, 2002. Died, Feb. 20, 2018.
38. Alfred Willis. Ordained 1976. Suspended by Bishop John A. Marshall 1980. Request to lift suspension to transfer to Seattle denied Feb. 3, 1982. Second request denied July 14, 1983. Also denied chance for admission to Brooklyn Diocese. Laicized: Ordered dismissed from clerical state by Diocese Tribunal Aug. 16, 1985. Later the Vatican affirmed the reduction from priest to lay person. Living.
39. Benjamin D. Wysolmerski. Ordained 1950. Resigns, Jun. 15, 1993. Public Priestly faculties revoked, June 17, 1993 by Bishop Kenneth A. Angell. Died Oct. 11, 1994.