Accused priest led Mass in Arlington

A Catholic priest removed from ministry in Pennsylvania because of sexual abuse allegations has been living in Dallas and leading Mass at an Arlington parish for at least a year.

Officials at the Diocese of Fort Worth, which encompasses Arlington, said they didn't know about the Rev. Christopher Clay's activities at St. Mary the Virgin Catholic Church until contacted this week by The Dallas Morning News. On Tuesday the diocese's chancellor, the Rev. Robert Wilson, banned Father Clay from further ministry.

Father Clay didn't respond to an interview request. No one answered the door of his Oak Cliff apartment.

The priest has not been accused of wrongdoing in Texas. The Diocese of Scranton, Pa., said he remains under investigation there. He was placed on leave two years ago after an allegation of abuse was made by a man in his early 20s who said he'd been molested as a teen.

Father Clay apparently had been leading Masses at St. Mary the Virgin at the invitation of the Arlington parish's pastor, the Rev. Allan Hawkins. Diocesan officials said Father Hawkins never sought permission from them, as required by church rules. Father Hawkins did not respond to interview requests.

David Clohessy of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, said many priests removed from ministry under the 2002 sexual abuse charter adopted by U.S. bishops continue to find their way into ministry because of leaders who skirt proper channels.

Officials of the Dallas Diocese said they hadn't heard of Father Clay. They added that he would not be allowed to participate in any ministry in the diocese.

His background in Pennsylvania came to light locally through Rachel Dillard of Dallas, who said she went to Father Clay this month for instruction because she hoped to become a Catholic.

She said she conducted an Internet search on the priest out of curiosity and was stunned to learn about the abuse allegation.

"He had told me he left Pennsylvania because of a dispute with a conservative faction," she said. "He felt they were obsessed with matters of sex."

James Early, chancellor of the Scranton Diocese, said Father Clay had told him he had a job in Texas reviewing medical insurance claims.

Last month, the Vatican authorized an ecclesiastical judicial process against Father Clay and two other priests accused of molesting the young man, now 23, according to a document obtained by The News. He could be permanently defrocked.

Father Clay, who has maintained his innocence to Pennsylvania authorities, was never sued or charged with a crime. But the other two priests who were implicated are defendants in a lawsuit in Pennsylvania.

In a deposition, the young man said of Father Clay: "He proceeded to get me roaring drunk. I remember throwing up in his room all over myself and him taking me into the next room and undressing me and then I woke up naked the next morning."

James Bendell, the accuser's attorney, said Father Clay was not named as a defendant because the case against the other two priests was much stronger and involved "several overt acts of molestation."

Asked whether Father Clay belonged in ministry, the lawyer said: "No. Not only no, but hell no."

Members of St. Mary's described Father Clay as a dynamic speaker with a keen intellect.

"He's excellent with the young people," Terry Southard said. "They feel like they can talk with him."

From Fr Hawkins to the people of St Mary the Virgin

No doubt you will have seen the story which appeared today in the Dallas Morning News, and perhaps elsewhere in the media. I plan to speak about this hurtful and distressing matter at all three Masses next Sunday -- but, meanwhile, I would like you to have immediately the following brief outline of the facts.

I have known Fr Christopher Clay for almost ten years, having first met him through a mutual friend -- a priest now deceased -- several years before his ordination to the priesthood. Fr Clay was ordained for the Diocese of Scranton, Pennsylvania, of which diocese he remains a priest.

In May 2002 certain allegations were made concerning several priests, of whom Fr Clay was one, about an incident which was alleged to have taken place some four years earlier. Fr Clay strenuously denies all and any such allegations. The Diocese "removed Fr Clay from active ministry" while the matter was investigated. The outcome of this investigation was that no charges of any kind were brought against Fr Clay (though I understand that there are still ongoing processes with regard to the other priests concerned). Furthermore, according to a message dated June 28 to me from Rod Dreher (a journalist for the Dallas Morning News whom many of you will know as a worshiper in our Parish, who appears to have instigated the present interest in the matter) "the Pennsylvania State Police … has no record of an investigation into Father Clay". (It seems that Rod Dreher has had an ongoing journalistic interest in these events in Scranton, having written about them in February 2002 in the National Review Online.)

One might imagine that that would have been the end of the matter. And, indeed, so it appeared to have been. Bishop Timlin (the now-retired Bishop of Scranton) ended Fr Clay's "removal from active ministry" by appointing him parochial vicar at St Thomas More parish in Lake Ariel, PA - and I have Bishop Timlin's letter to this effect, dated February 4, 2003, before me as I write. This could not have happened if Fr Clay had been suspended or had had his faculties removed.

In the event, very soon after Fr Clay reported for his new assignment he became unwell, no doubt as a result of the stress of all these events; and he sought a leave of absence from the Diocese on health grounds. This was granted, and Fr Clay moved to his home town of Dallas; and I have a copy of the positive and supportive letter which Bishop Timlin sent to him, confirming these arrangements, dated March 10, 2003.

At about that time I personally contacted Bishop Timlin to make sure that there was no objection to my inviting Fr Clay to assist us at St Mary the Virgin. The Bishop assured me that this was entirely acceptable - and he expressed satisfaction that Fr Clay had supportive friends in the area. I also spoke with Fr Peter Stravinskas who was Fr Clay's superior at the Oratory in which Fr Clay lived at the time of the alleged incident; he gave no indication of any concern.

On April 22 of this year the new Bishop of Scranton, Bishop Joseph F. Martino, wrote to Fr Clay as a priest of his Diocese but now living in Dallas, to ask him his "intentions regarding your future ministry". Again, such an inquiry would be meaningless and absurd if Fr Clay was under suspension and without faculties as a priest.

In the light of all the above, it is difficult indeed to see what ends of truth, justice and charity have been served by today's Dallas Morning News and its journalists.

Please pray for Fr Christopher Clay at this time. He is a devout and fine priest. He is, and will continue to be, a close friend of mine and my family. He is, by adoption and grace, a member of our Parish community; and we will support him. And may Blessed Mary pray for her parish, and for the priests who are her sons.

Fr Allan

If a layman can figure out how to 'google' someone, why can't church officials?

Funny thing when the story appeared yesterday I tried googling Fr. Clay in Scranton Pa with several different keywords and didn't get anything.

Dig into the story a little more. No "church officials" knew what was going on. It was Clay and the pastor in Texas, no one else.

There was a post yesterday when this story came up in the Religion forum of a draft letter from the pastor of this parish to his parishoners. Clay was a friend of his. He took his word that he was okay to function in Texas. Now, where that letter came from I have no idea but I trust the poster to have put it up in good faith.

There seem to be several versions of who got told what about what he said he was going to be doing in Texas.

The following article appears at http://www.timesleader.com/mld/timesleader/9060662.htm

Posted on Fri, Jul. 02, 2004

Ex-bishop: Priest OK'd for duty

No abuse charges were filed against Christopher Clay, so former Bishop Timlin was set to give him a church. Clay went to Texas instead.

By BONNIE ADAMS and MARK GUYDISH

badams@leader.net markg@leader.net

Bishop James Timlin and others say the Rev. Christopher Clay was entitled to resume ministerial duties when no criminal charges resulted from a young man's accusations against him.
The former Diocese of Scranton bishop said he offered Clay local parish work in 2003 after a police investigation yielded no charges.

But that word apparently hasn't reached the Diocese of Forth Worth in Texas, where Clay this week was barred from saying Mass because church officials say they have no proof he's in good standing.

Clay until recently assisted his close friend, the Rev. Allan Hawkins, at St. Mary the Virgin Church in Arlington, Texas. In reaction to a Dallas Morning News article, Hawkins distributed a letter to his parishioners Wednesday.

Hawkins said he had contacted Timlin in 2003 "to make sure that there was no objection to my inviting Father Clay to assist us at St. Mary the Virgin." Timlin confirmed Thursday that he had no objections.

Diocese of Scranton spokeswoman Maria Orzel said this week that Clay was removed from active ministry after his name surfaced during an investigation into an allegation against two priests at the Society of St. John in Pike County.

Since February 2003, she said, Clay has been on leave from all ministerial activity in the diocese. She said the internal investigation is ongoing. Orzel could not be reached for comment Thursday.

Hawkins said in the letter that current Bishop Joseph Martino wrote to Clay in April to ask him of his "intentions regarding your future ministry." Hawkins said the inquiry would be absurd if Clay was under suspension.

Clay had been removed from his teaching job at Bishop Hafey High School in Hazle Township in 2002 after a young man made sexual misconduct allegations related to the facility in Monroe County. The accusations came during a deposition for a federal lawsuit against two other diocese priests.

Timlin said Thursday that the diocese felt it was unfair to prohibit Clay from resuming ministerial duties after police did not file charges. The young man who made the accusations has not sued Clay.

The bishop said he did not feel that the 2002 U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops policy applied to Clay once no criminal charges resulted. Church policy dictates that when sexual abuse is admitted or proven, a priest must be permanently removed from the ministry regardless of when the incident occurred.

"I was ready to assign him," Timlin said. The bishop offered Clay a position at St. Thomas More parish in Lake Ariel, Wayne County. By then, Clay had traveled to his home state of Texas to rest.

"Clay, who had been under a lot of stress, responded to Timlin that he was still suffering from some anxiety," said Clay's attorney, Greg Magarity, on Thursday. Magarity said Clay told Timlin in March 2003 that he wasn't ready to return to ministerial work.

Magarity remembers someone in a district attorney's office saying the statute of limitations had run out, which would have ended the investigation. Former Monroe County District Attorney Mark Pazuhanich had said in May 2002 that an investigation was ongoing.

But current Monroe County District Attorney E. David Christine Jr. said this week that the file Pazuhanich requested police send directly to Pazuhanich was missing and Christine's office had no knowledge of an investigation of Clay.

"I'm very sensitive to the victims in this case but I don't know that Clay's getting a fair shot here," Magarity said. "(Clay is) obviously not under restrictive ministry or they wouldn't ask him to take an assignment as assistant pastor."

Magarity said he has had trouble dealing with the Diocese of Scranton and getting information from officials about Clay's status.

Bonnie Adams, a Times Leader staff writer, may be reached at 829-7241.

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