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Associated Press
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Cleveland Catholic Diocese Bishop Anthony Pilla, right, walks in a procession yesterday, at The Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist in Cleveland. Pilla is forming a commission to evaluate the handling of child sex abuse cases within the diocese.
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Associated Press
Wednesday Apr. 10, 2002
CLEVELAND - During Sunday's sermon, parishioners said the Rev. Joseph Lieberth apologized for the shame that sexually abusive priests have brought the church, but left out his own pending dilemma.
Lieberth was suspended Monday from Cleveland's Roman Catholic Diocese over allegations that he sexually abused children. Lieberth is among nine priests in the diocese, including three pastors and a high-ranking vicar, who have been placed on administrative leave pending an investigation by prosecutors.
The announcement of Lieberth's suspension stunned the staff at Holy Family School, said Susan Jelenic, the school's principal.
"It came as a shock and surprise to all of us," Jelenic said. "He was an outstanding pastor and had done so much."
Diocesan spokesman Robert Tayek said the decision to suspend the nine priests was in line with a statement by Bishop Anthony M. Pilla which was distributed to parishioners at weekend Masses.
"The issue of sexual abuse is a matter of open and public discussion," Pilla said.
The diocese released all of their names but none of the nine could be reached for comment.
Tayek said most of the newly suspended priests were "very unsettled" by the renewed investigations. He said none of the cases was recent and some dated back 15 years.
The diocese had previously evaluated and treated all the suspended priests, Tayek said.
The priests will remain on administrative leave until the Cuyahoga County prosecutor's office has a chance to review the allegations. Tayek said prosecutors subpoenaed the diocese Friday for all material regarding child abuse allegations.
Tayek said the diocese is conducting its own review of the allegations against the priests because it wants "full disclosure of these cases."
The diocese also released the names of 12 other priests "no longer in active ministry because of allegations in the past of abuse of minors." They included the Rev. Martin Louis, who was sentenced to five years to 25 years in prison on a guilty plea to rape 12 years ago.
A 10th priest, the Rev. Raymond Bartnikowski, pastor of St. Victor in Richfield, was suspended two weeks ago over newly disclosed abuse allegations.
Another priest in the diocese, the Rev. Don A. Rooney, killed himself last week after he was accused of molesting a girl in 1980. Pilla and more than 100 other priests concelebrated Rooney's funeral Mass yesterday at St. Anthony of Padua Church in suburban Parma. An overflow crowd spread into the lobby and an adjacent chapel.
The Cleveland diocese has 235 parishes with more than 800,000 Catholics and about 340 priests.
It is one of several dioceses to reveal allegations of sexual abuse since the start of the deepening scandal.
In other developments Monday related to the scandal:
The Archdiocese of Newark has removed a priest from his ministerial duties over a past allegation of inappropriate conduct. The Rev. William Dowd, pastor of St. Luke's Roman Catholic Church in Ho-Ho-Kus, moved out of the church's rectory last week and has been temporarily stripped of his duties and authority.
Cardinal Roger Mahony defended his handling of a sex scandal enveloping the Los Angeles Catholic Archdiocese, the nation's largest, complaining that the leaking of church e-mails gives a distorted impression of what is being done.
A priest accused of raping a Michigan woman was expected to return to the state to be formally charged. The Rev. Komlan Dem Houndjame of Togo, Africa, who had been working at Assumption Grotto Church in Detroit since 1999, will leave a St. Louis treatment facility and travel to Harper Woods to be arraigned, police said. Before coming to Detroit, Houndjame faced sexual misconduct allegations in St. Augustine, Fla., said a diocesan spokeswoman.
