Denver church removes priest in new sex scandal

Possibly influenced by the delayed reaction by other church leaders on the issue of priests accused of sex abuse, the Archbishop of Denver wasted little time in removing a Centennial area priest from active duty after a man came forward this weekend and said he had been abused by the priest in the 1970s.

Charles Chaput, who has been uncharacteristically mum on the Vatican response to recent sex abuse scandals, removed Father Mel Thompson from active duty at St. Thomas More Church after a man came forward and said that Thompson abused him in the ‘70s. No exact dates or location were given by Denver Archdiocese spokeswoman Jeannette De Melo, according to the Denver Post.

Thompson has worked at St. Thomas More Church for nine years and previously worked at Our Lady of Fatima, St. Vincent De Paul, Immaculate Heart of Mary, Good Shepherd (formerly St. John the Evangelist), St. Rose of Lima, and Christ the King. According to records, Thompson worked at St. Rose of Lima Parish in Denver from 1969 to 1970 and at Good Shepherd Parish, formerly called St. John the Evangelist in Loveland in 1973.

Centennial police have reportedly started a file on the case but added that if the abuse occurred in the 1970s, it is beyond the statute of limitations and not eligible for criminal charges. However, they asked anyone with information related to Thompson’s conduct while at St. Thomas More to contact the Child and Youth Protection Office.

As is Denver Archdiocese policy, the report was turned over to the police and the former parishes that Thompson served were notified by letter of the allegations. The procedure stems from the aftermath of the Denver priest abuse investigations of the early 2000s when the archdiocese paid out approximately $5.5 million to 18 victims of abuse that dated from 1954 to 1981.

Thompson, believed to be in his 70s, was not available for comment according to the

The swift, decisive stance by the Denver Archdiocese and Chaput in particular is in contrast to their relative quiet on allegations that Pope Benedict (then John Ratzinger), among other allegations, worked to protect alleged sexually abusive priests in the 1980s in Europe and in the U.S.

That relative silence is a bit uncharacteristic in that Chaput has been extremely vocal on a number of other issues including the “adulation” of Barack Obama, the role of the Catholic church in politics and even a positive review of the film “The Golden Compass”.

This story seems like the flipside to the Church scandal. One solitary unproven allegation from the 1970’s, and he is summarily removed?

I think this whole Church scandal is part truth, part witch hunt. A lot of innocents are going to be ruined to make up for the scum that were allowed to walk free in years past.

(then John(sic) Ratzinger),

Joseph Ratzinger.

Chaputs' zero tolerance policy has been in place since June of 2002.

The "author" of this blog is an idiot.

3 posted on 04/12/2010 9:02:03 PM PDT by A.A. Cunningham (Barry Soetoro is a Kenyan communist)

And all the bishops have had a zero tolerance policy for years now.

4 posted on 04/12/2010 9:04:48 PM PDT by vladimir998 (Part of the Vast Catholic Conspiracy (hat tip to Kells))

Priests have no civil rights. Guilty until proven innocent. And even then...

5 posted on 04/12/2010 9:28:18 PM PDT by Arthur McGowan (In Edward Kennedy's America, federal funding of brothels is a right, not a privilege.)

Except for pro-abortion Catholics who wield political power. There, it’s an infinite-tolerance policy.

6 posted on 04/12/2010 9:29:12 PM PDT by Arthur McGowan (In Edward Kennedy's America, federal funding of brothels is a right, not a privilege.)

No, I don’t think so. I think Archbishop Raymond Burke proved that. The “tolerance” will increasingly go down too.

7 posted on 04/12/2010 9:33:56 PM PDT by vladimir998 (Part of the Vast Catholic Conspiracy (hat tip to Kells))

The men I really feel sorry for are the vast majority of priests who are lumped in with the abusers just because they are priests.

There is nothing like a truly humble, holy priest.

I’m talking about the majority.

So far, Archbishop Burke has about fifteen allies. That’s out of 300-some bishops in America.

9 posted on 04/13/2010 12:20:31 PM PDT by Arthur McGowan (In Edward Kennedy's America, federal funding of brothels is a right, not a privilege.)

said he had been abused by the priest in the 1970s.

So ... it's not a "new" scandal at all. Just more crap from the '70s.

Once again, the leftist secular press is lying to us.

10 posted on 04/13/2010 12:22:07 PM PDT by ArrogantBustard (Western Civilization is Aborting, Buggering, and Contracepting itself out of existence.)

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