IN THE MIDDLE, THE FOUNDER OF 'HOUSE OF AFFIRMATION', A PLACE OF RECOVERY FOR PRIESTS WITH VARIOUS PROBLEMS, FR. THOMAS KANE, OFFICIALLY DEFROCKED BY VATICAN
The priest also was a co-founder and director of the former House of Affirmation in Whitinsville, a treatment and counseling center for priests, including those suspected of sexual abuse. He left the post in 1986 amid allegations of financial improprieties brought by 11 center managers and executives.
The House of Affirmation, which was under the jurisdiction of the Catholic Archdiocese of Boston, was closed in 1989
[THE BLOGGER FINDS NO PLEASURE IN RELAYING THE FOLLOWING; THE BLOGGER HAD ADMIRED THE WORK OF THE HOUSE OF AFFIRMATION...].
Daniel J. Shea, a lawyer in Houston who has represented alleged victims of sexual abuse by priests, told the T&G this week that he met Rev. Kane after Mr. Shea became a deacon in the Catholic church and was studying for the priesthood in Providence in the early 1970s.
Mr. Shea said that then-Monsignor Daniel P. Reilly, who was chancellor of the Providence Diocese at the time and now is bishop of the Worcester Diocese, recommended that Mr. Shea go to the House of Affirmation in 1974 because he had a problem with "authority."
Mr. Shea said he came to know Rev. Kane in Whitinsville and has corresponded with him recently via e-mail.
When allegations surfaced in the 1980s of fiscal mismanagement at the House of Affirmation, Worcester lawyer Samuel R. DeSimone was retained by the diocese to investigate. Mr. DeSimone concluded there was evidence that Rev. Kane had spent House of Affirmation funds for purchases that in some cases went to buy personal property. At the time, Rev. Kane had acquired real estate holdings in Massachusetts, Florida and Maine.
Mr. DeSimone declined to provide specifics on his findings. Rev. Kane paid an undisclosed sum to the House of Affirmation in an out-of-court settlement that included a provision prohibiting disclosure of its details.
Rev. Kane's real estate holdings included one house each in Upton and Whitinsville, an inn and a farm in Maine, three condominiums in Boston, two condominiums in Florida and an interest in trusts that owned other Boston properties.
In 1993, Rev. Kane was accused of sexual abuse in a lawsuit filed by Mark D. Barry of Uxbridge. That suit also was settled out of court with a nondisclosure provision.
Mr. Barry's suit maintained that in the summer of 1968, Rev. Kane, then a visiting priest at St. Mary's Church in Uxbridge, took him to a cottage in Upton and sexually abused him. Mr. Barry was 9 years old at the time.
His suit contended that the abuse in Upton was the first of dozens of sexual encounters between the two that occurred at the House of Affirmation, at St. Mary's Church and elsewhere. It stated that Rev. Kane plied the boy with liquor, and gave him expensive gifts and money.
The lawsuit described the abuse as becoming more bizarre over the years, with the gifts and money escalating. Mr. Barry said he was taken to rural retreats, where Rev. Kane offered him to other priests to have sex with.
The lawsuit described Rev. Kane as a voyeur who offered the boy money to have sex with other men. It stated that Rev. Kane would watch and sometimes take photographs of those encounters.
ON MARCH 5, 2013, IT WAS ANNOUNCED:
Three former Central Massachusetts priests, David Blizard, Thomas Kane, and Robert A. Shauris have been "laicized" or defrocked by the Vatican (T&G FILE PHOTOS)
WORCESTER — The Vatican has "laicized," or defrocked, three Central Massachusetts Roman Catholic priests, who had been accused of sexual improprieties.
Bishop Robert J. McManus said that, as a result of the Vatican's actions, David Blizard, Thomas Kane, and Robert A. Shauris "are no longer in the clerical state."
According to chancery officials, the Vatican's Congregation of the Faith decided to oust Mr. Blizard from the priesthood. Meanwhile, Pope Benedict XVI, before stepping down as pontiff last Thursday, accepted the "voluntary laicizations" of Mr. Kane and Mr. Shauris.
Chancery officials said that the three men may no longer function in any capacity as priests.
The Vatican made the decision to strip the three men of the priesthood late last year but held off announcing anything until the period allowing for any appeals expired.
"I ask the Catholic community to join with me in prayer for healing for anyone who has been abused by these men or anyone in the Catholic Church," said Bishop McManus. "Allow me to echo the poignant words of Cardinal Francis George at the meeting of cardinals in Rome on Monday that 'The wound is still deep in their hearts and as long as it's with them it will be with us.' May we never lose sight of this."
The bishop urged that anyone who has been harmed by a member of the clergy in any way to contact the diocesan Office of Healing and Prevention at (508) 929-4363.
Mr. Shauris, who was accused of molesting children in the 1980s, has been on leave from the Diocese of Worcester since 1991.
The diocese, in 2002, settled a civil case involving Mr. Shauris that was brought by a Derry, N.H., man and a Deerfield Beach, Fla., man.
The two charged that Rev. Shauris engaged in acts of nonconsensual sex with them in the 1980s, when they were students at St. Bernard's Catholic High School in Fitchburg.
Mr. Shauris, at the time, was assigned to the school and was a music teacher. He was not specifically named as a defendant in the lawsuit and a stipulation of dismissal in the case was filed July 15, 2004.
In a 2002 interview with the Telegram & Gazette, one of the plaintiffs said the sexual abuse incidents occurred at a residence used by several priests off South Street in Fitchburg.
He said he was shown pornographic films and given alcoholic drinks, including Black Russians. The sexual abuse included fondling and other sexual acts.
He said the sexual improprieties occurred from 1983 to 1985 when he was 14 or 15 years old.
The man said a number of teenage boys hung around the residence and that some actually lived there with the priests.
Mr. Shauris was also named with a group of other priests in a confidential settlement agreement of a 1993 lawsuit by a man who accused Mr. Kane of molesting him for several years, beginning when he was 9.
The agreement, obtained by the Telegram & Gazette, absolved Mr. Shauris.
The abuse allegedly took place at the House of Affirmation in Northbridge, a treatment center for priests with sex abuse and other problems which was co-founded by Mr. Kane.
The facility closed in 1989.
Mr. Shauris, a Worcester native, studied for the priesthood at St. John's Seminary in Boston and was ordained in 1974 by Bishop Bernard J. Flanagan.
He was assigned to St. Mary Parish in Uxbridge before being appointed in 1978 to the faculty at St. Bernard's.
Mr. Shauris later taught at St. Peter-Marian Central Catholic High School in Worcester before he joined the staff at Anna Maria College in Paxton in 1991.
He also served for a time as a part-time faculty member at Curry College.
Mr. Kane was removed from the ministry in 1993 by then Bishop Timothy J. Harrington for sexual misconduct that occurred in the 1970s.
He was ordained in 1969 and was in residence at several parishes, including St. Mary's in Uxbridge and St. Joan of Arc in Worcester, while he continued his studies in psychology.
After his assignment at the House of Affirmation, Mr. Kane served, beginning in 1992, as an associate pastor at Sacred Heart Parish in Gardner
Meanwhile, Mr. Blizard was removed from the ministry in 1988 by Bishop Harrington after local church officials determined that the allegations made against him were credible.
Mr. Blizard was ordained in 1974 and served at the following parishes: St. Roch in Oxford, Our Lady Immaculate in Athol, Christ the King in Worcester and Holy Angels in Upton.
Chancery officials said he was in residence at various parishes when he was assigned to the Catholic School Department from 1983 to 1988.
Another diocesan priest, Thomas Teczar, was laicized in 2011.
He was found guilty of sexually molesting a young boy in Texas, where he is now serving jail time.
Bronislaus B. Kush can be contacted at bkush@telegram.com.
Bishop Robert J. McManus said that, as a result of the Vatican's actions, David Blizard, Thomas Kane, and Robert A. Shauris "are no longer in the clerical state."
According to chancery officials, the Vatican's Congregation of the Faith decided to oust Mr. Blizard from the priesthood. Meanwhile, Pope Benedict XVI, before stepping down as pontiff last Thursday, accepted the "voluntary laicizations" of Mr. Kane and Mr. Shauris.
Chancery officials said that the three men may no longer function in any capacity as priests.
The Vatican made the decision to strip the three men of the priesthood late last year but held off announcing anything until the period allowing for any appeals expired.
"I ask the Catholic community to join with me in prayer for healing for anyone who has been abused by these men or anyone in the Catholic Church," said Bishop McManus. "Allow me to echo the poignant words of Cardinal Francis George at the meeting of cardinals in Rome on Monday that 'The wound is still deep in their hearts and as long as it's with them it will be with us.' May we never lose sight of this."
The bishop urged that anyone who has been harmed by a member of the clergy in any way to contact the diocesan Office of Healing and Prevention at (508) 929-4363.
Mr. Shauris, who was accused of molesting children in the 1980s, has been on leave from the Diocese of Worcester since 1991.
The diocese, in 2002, settled a civil case involving Mr. Shauris that was brought by a Derry, N.H., man and a Deerfield Beach, Fla., man.
The two charged that Rev. Shauris engaged in acts of nonconsensual sex with them in the 1980s, when they were students at St. Bernard's Catholic High School in Fitchburg.
Mr. Shauris, at the time, was assigned to the school and was a music teacher. He was not specifically named as a defendant in the lawsuit and a stipulation of dismissal in the case was filed July 15, 2004.
In a 2002 interview with the Telegram & Gazette, one of the plaintiffs said the sexual abuse incidents occurred at a residence used by several priests off South Street in Fitchburg.
He said he was shown pornographic films and given alcoholic drinks, including Black Russians. The sexual abuse included fondling and other sexual acts.
He said the sexual improprieties occurred from 1983 to 1985 when he was 14 or 15 years old.
The man said a number of teenage boys hung around the residence and that some actually lived there with the priests.
Mr. Shauris was also named with a group of other priests in a confidential settlement agreement of a 1993 lawsuit by a man who accused Mr. Kane of molesting him for several years, beginning when he was 9.
The agreement, obtained by the Telegram & Gazette, absolved Mr. Shauris.
The abuse allegedly took place at the House of Affirmation in Northbridge, a treatment center for priests with sex abuse and other problems which was co-founded by Mr. Kane.
The facility closed in 1989.
Mr. Shauris, a Worcester native, studied for the priesthood at St. John's Seminary in Boston and was ordained in 1974 by Bishop Bernard J. Flanagan.
He was assigned to St. Mary Parish in Uxbridge before being appointed in 1978 to the faculty at St. Bernard's.
Mr. Shauris later taught at St. Peter-Marian Central Catholic High School in Worcester before he joined the staff at Anna Maria College in Paxton in 1991.
He also served for a time as a part-time faculty member at Curry College.
Mr. Kane was removed from the ministry in 1993 by then Bishop Timothy J. Harrington for sexual misconduct that occurred in the 1970s.
He was ordained in 1969 and was in residence at several parishes, including St. Mary's in Uxbridge and St. Joan of Arc in Worcester, while he continued his studies in psychology.
After his assignment at the House of Affirmation, Mr. Kane served, beginning in 1992, as an associate pastor at Sacred Heart Parish in Gardner
Meanwhile, Mr. Blizard was removed from the ministry in 1988 by Bishop Harrington after local church officials determined that the allegations made against him were credible.
Mr. Blizard was ordained in 1974 and served at the following parishes: St. Roch in Oxford, Our Lady Immaculate in Athol, Christ the King in Worcester and Holy Angels in Upton.
Chancery officials said he was in residence at various parishes when he was assigned to the Catholic School Department from 1983 to 1988.
Another diocesan priest, Thomas Teczar, was laicized in 2011.
He was found guilty of sexually molesting a young boy in Texas, where he is now serving jail time.
Bronislaus B. Kush can be contacted at bkush@telegram.com.
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