A priest from St. Anne’s Catholic Church responded this week to his parish’s membership after the Archdiocese of Atlanta published a list priests, deacons, seminarians and other religious workers have been “credibly accused” of sexually abusing minors for many decades.
Two of those named in the report were a pastoral assistant who was convicted of molesting two boys while working at St. Ann’s in 1999-2000, and a Canton parish priest who was possibly being at East Cobb Church on occasion at first. 1990s.
The Reverend Wilton Gregory, the Archbishop of Atlanta, said he was publicly identifying those on the list “in the spirit of transparency and in the hope of continued healing for survivors of abuse.”
On Friday, the Reverend Raymond Cadran, parish priest of Sainte-Anne, sent a letter to members of Roswell Road Parish, expressing “my deepest sadness, anger and pain at the actions of any LaSalette or anyone associated with our name who has caused harm and pain to one of the precious children, young people and their families of God”.
He said “all credible complaints were dealt with appropriately and in a timely manner”.
The names on Atlanta’s list date back to the founding of the archdiocese in 1956 and were compiled from the “best information we have at this time,” according to the archdiocese.
Another name on the archdiocesan list is Father Raymond Horan, who was the founding pastor of the Transfiguration Catholic Church in East Cobb. He was there from 1977 to 1981.
Kenneth Cassity was a pastoral assistant who lived at St. Ann’s Rectory from August 1999 to July 2000. He was considering becoming a priest with Missionaries of Our Lady of LaSalette (of which St. Ann is a part) but was fired in 2000. In 2002, Cadran wrote, a “credible charge” was brought against Cassity while working at a Catholic church in Florida.
In June 2003, he pleaded guilty to two counts of indecent assault stemming from the St. Ann charges. He was sentenced to three years in prison and seven more suspended.
In December 2003, the Archdiocese of Atlanta and the Missionaries of LaSalette settled a $10 million lawsuit filed by parents of Cassity molestation victims in St. Ann.
In August, the Catholic Archdiocese of Arlington, Va., admitted being told of an allegation of abuse by a miner against Cassity when he was a youth pastor at a parish there in 1992, and law enforcement was made aware of it.
It was the same year Richard Boucher, a priest at the Notre-Dame de La Salette church in Canton and who visited Sainte-Anne on occasion, was accused of having abused a minor.
According to Cadran, Boucher “was immediately dismissed from all priestly and pastoral ministry by the Missionaries of La Salette, as is still the case today. He may have had reason to be on our campus occasionally while he was in Canton for events such as a penitential service.
Cadran, who has been at St. Ann since 1996 and was at Canton Parish before that, also urged church members to contact the Archdiocese of Atlanta hotline at 1-888-437-0764 about a credible allegation of sexual abuse against a minor by a priest or religious worker.
American Catholic bishops will meet in Baltimore next week to consider actions on how to respond to allegations of abuse.
“With you, I pray that the assembled bishops will find the strength and wisdom to create the way forward with their decisions and truly take the bold steps needed to heal the Church,” Cadran wrote in his letter.
UPDATE, SUNDAY, 1:15 PM Earlier in the day, Father Fernando Molina-Restrepo, parish priest of the Transfiguration, also posted a letter to his congregation regarding Horan, who later served in other churches in metro Atlanta and Georgia.
According to the Archdiocese of Atlanta, Horan was removed from office in 1992. He died last year at the age of 74.
“It is obviously painful to see this news and to recognize that enough evidence has been presented” for Horan’s dismissal, Molina-Restrepo wrote:
“It is important now that we as a parish family continue to pray for all victims of child sexual abuse. The Archdiocese of Atlanta strives to be transparent and help anyone who may The Archdiocese of Atlanta, as the Archbishop has repeatedly said, is always ready to help victims with professional help and with whatever is necessary for their recovery.
“Here at Transfiguration, please know that as your parish clergy, we are always willing to find a time to sit down and visit any of you who may be having difficulty with this information or need guidance. , advice or reference.”
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