Santa Rosa, Sacramento Catholic Dioceses go public about priest accused in 2015 and later convicted
In the eight-plus years since Napa County Carmelite Priest Mark Kristy was first accused of improper conduct with a girl at her Sacramento-area home, he has been arrested, convicted of a felony, jailed for six months and sentenced to five years of probation that he’s now serving in St. Helena.
His name, face, address and the legal description of his more-than-20-year-old crime — lewd or lascivious acts with a child under 14 — are duly posted on California’s Megan’s Law website, where sex registrants convicted of qualifying crimes are cataloged.
But until recent weeks, church officials made no effort to notify the public or parishioners about his presence in the community, despite the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ “commitment to transparency and openness” in the 2002 Charter for the Protection of Children & Young People.
Kristy’s name did not appear on the list of “credibly accused priests” kept by the sprawling Roman Catholic Diocese of Santa Rosa, in which he’s spent much of his priesthood.
He was not listed either by the Diocese of Sacramento, in whose boundaries the sexual abuse occurred beginning in 2001 and whose officials were alerted 14 years later.
Local members of the Discalced Carmelites, in whose Oakville House of Prayer he long resided, did not immediately respond to Press Democrat inquiries seeking information about Kristy, 71. Unlike some other Catholic orders, they have no list of accused priests of their own.
But in December, an unusual post appeared under announcements on the Santa Rosa Diocese’s website warning local Catholics to steer clear of the priest.
“Father Mark Kristy O.C.D., is reportedly living in the Diocese of Santa Rosa without his Superior's permission or approval,” it said. “Under no circumstance is he to be allowed to exercise any form of ministry in or for the Diocese. The faithful are advised that they are not to participate in any way with any priestly activities which he might illicitly offer. Concerns are to be brought to the attention of the Chancery.”
Santa Rosa Bishop Robert Vasa told The Press Democrat earlier this month the announcement was triggered by word third-hand from someone who had noticed on the Megan’s Law website that Kristy had moved into a private home and was no longer under the watchful eye of his brethren at the Oakville monastery. On Friday, he said he was informed Kristy had left the monastery in January 2023.
He said Kristy had been restricted from all ministry since December 2015, when the bishop learned through an attorney with the Sacramento Diocese that accusations had been raised.
Last year, Vasa reinforced instructions that Kristy not minister in the diocese. He said he was waiting for the Carmelite order to apprise him of the priest’s status before taking it further.
But when it comes to protecting the community, “I am responsible.”
Yet it was only this month that the Santa Rosa Diocese added Kristy to their published list of accused priests. Kristy’s name also appeared this week on the Sacramento Diocese list after The Press Democrat raised questions about his status there.
Vasa, the Santa Rosa bishop, said he had, until recently been “trying diligently to stay in my lane,” given the Carmelites’ jurisdiction in the matter.
“Since the Carmelites do not seem to have their own list, I could not realistically act until, either they formally and publicly named him or his name became public is some other fashion, which it did on Megan’s list,” he said via email Friday.
Vasa said he did his best to adhere to “the spirit” of transparency when the church’s organizational structure permitted it.
“That was my every intention,” he said. “I’m not trying to hide anything.”
Yet word of Kristy’s record and the lack of public notice has stirred frustration and anger among church critics and watchdogs, particularly the nonprofit Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, or SNAP.
“He was arrested and convicted, and neither Sacramento nor Santa Rosa said a word,” said Bay Area resident Dan McNevin, treasurer for the organization’s national board. “The danger in this is stunning. How can a bishop claim to be transparent and for the survivor when they won't publicize an arrest?”
“They should have said something about it in 2015, when they first found out about it — if that’s when they first found about it,” said Melanie Sakoda, SNAP’s survivor support coordinator. “That’s almost 10 years now. This is 2024, and that’s a long time to sit on something like this.”
An adherent of the Latin mass trained as a psychotherapist, Kristy was not assigned to any particular church but could be invited to say mass at individual parishes, and did so, frequently in the Sacramento Diocese while he remained in good standing. He also said mass at the monastery.
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