Saturday, March 19, 2011

Jesuit Mental Health Chaplian Removed By Archbishop

Archbishop George Lucas
A Jesuit priest has been permanently removed from ministry in the Archdiocese of Omaha on an allegation that he had inappropriate contact with a student at Milwaukee's Marquette High School in the early 1980s. Father Perry Robinson, 69, taught at Marquette for 20 years before he was fired in 1988 for taking inappropriate photographs of boys and men. He was dismissed last month as associate pastor at St. Gerald Parish and barred from all ministry in the archdiocese after a Marquette alumnus, now living in California, reported the incident to Omaha Archbishop George Lucas. Omaha Chancellor Deacon Tim McNeil said church officials there appear not to have been told about the circumstances surrounding Robinson's Marquette dismissal, or that he was twice sent to a Maryland psychological treatment center, when they agreed to accept him for ministry in the 1980s. While the latest allegation remains under investigation by the Milwaukee-based Wisconsin Province of the Society of Jesus, or Jesuits, McNeil said Robinson will not work again in the Omaha area. "We have a zero-tolerance policy," McNeil said. The Jesuits' Milwaukee spokesman, Rory Gillespie, said the order felt the Omaha ministry was appropriate for Robinson - he first served as a mental health chaplain there - and that it would have discussed his history with the church officials in Omaha.
Link (here) to the full story at the Milwaukee Sentinal

3 comments:

Maria said...

The changes will focus mainly on the “restructuring the secretariats based at the (Jesuit) Curia,” he wrote. He also announced the addition of three principle secretaries...that include “the service of faith, the promotion of justice, and collaboration with others.”

Hmmm. One would think that they might address their sexual abuse problem by assigning a secretariat.

Anonymous said...

@Maria -- that would mean having to admit that they HAVE a sexual abuse problem. I have spoken to more than one Jesuit who deny that the problem is as big as it is. They are also under the impression that the people suing the Church and the Order are all lying. It boggles the mind.

Anonymous said...

Maybe one should take a look at the Bishop's background also. Reports tell us that he sexually abused a seminarian. Who is calling the kettle black now.