Bishop Walsh says files show nothing about accused priest's past

Santa Rosa Bishop Daniel Walsh said Monday there's nothing in the file of a former priest facing child sex allegations that could have alerted local Catholic diocese officials that he was a pedophile before he was appointed associate pastor in Eureka.

Walsh said there is no evidence local church officials knew that the Rev. Patrick J. McCabe had been treated at a special clinic for sexual misconduct before he was assigned to St. Bernard Parish in 1983. Nor is there any evidence in the file that the late Bishop Mark Hurley was aware of misconduct alleged to have occurred in Ireland in the 1970s, he said.

While Hurley admitted he destroyed many of his own records upon retirement, the diocese maintains separate personnel files for all priests, living or dead, and nothing on McCabe from the era raises any red flags, Walsh said.

"Whether Bishop Hurley knew or not, I don't know," said Walsh, who took over in 2000. "He's dead. I cannot ask him."

The statements are Walsh's first public comments since a former Eureka altar boy sued the diocese last week, charging fraud and negligence for assigning McCabe there through 1985. The now 36-year-old plaintiff alleges church officials knew McCabe was a danger but placed him anyway, thus subjecting him to molestations while he was in third grade.

The man, identified as John Doe in the court filing, said he came forward after 26 years of silence after reading that McCabe, 74, had been arrested and was in Alameda County jail awaiting extradition to Ireland to answer to charges he molested six boys from 1973 to 1981.

Many allegations against McCabe were detailed in a 2009 report commissioned by the Irish government on 46 priests accused of wrongdoing.

The so-called Murphy report said the Archdiocese of Dublin had received numerous complaints about McCabe and sent him to a special clinic where McCabe was diagnosed with pedophilia and prescribed medicine to curb his sexual impulses.

The report said Archbishop Dermot Ryan reached out to Hurley "to, as it were, 'rid me of this troublesome priest,' " and Hurley agreed. The 61-page section on McCabe said Hurley was informed by Ryan of McCabe's "personal difficulties" and treatment for pedophilia.

But Walsh said Monday there was no documentation to support the idea that diocesan officials knew. He said McCabe's file is "not that thick" and contains no hint of his past.

He said he has no idea what was in the files destroyed by Hurley. Monsignor Thomas Keys, Hurley's top assistant, is on medical leave from his assignment at Star of the Valley Church in Oakmont after suffering a stroke. Walsh said because of Keys' condition, he has not discussed the report or McCabe with him.

"It's not clear what the archdiocese did or didn't notify Bishop Hurley about McCabe," Walsh said.

Walsh said he learned about the allegations against McCabe through media accounts and was not informed by church officials about the Murphy report or any allegations concerning McCabe. Walsh said he has not read the report.

He said he sent letters Aug. 17 to parishioners in Eureka and Guerneville, McCabe's later posting, asking those who "might have been mistreated by this priest" to come forward.

Despite allegations by the Eureka plaintiff that there were other victims, only he has complained, said Julie Sparacio of the diocese's Child and Youth Protection Office.

Sparacio said the diocese wants to give people a chance to tell their stories and help them with therapy if needed.

"These people have been injured," she said. "The church is really interested in healing."

Walsh, who leads the 167,000 Catholics from Sonoma and Napa counties to the Oregon border, said he could not comment further about the lawsuit because the diocese had not been served with the document.

He rejected criticism that the diocese has protected abusive priests.

Victims' advocates have cited the 2006 case of the Rev. Xavier Ochoa, who admitted to Walsh he molested Sonoma County children but fled to Mexico before Walsh reported it to police. Ochoa remains at large but there are unconfirmed rumors he may be dead.

"We don't shield any priests or any criminals," Walsh said.

You can reach Staff Writer Paul Payne at 568-5312 or paul.payne@ pressdemocrat.com.