By Erica Scalise
After The Fordham Ram previously reported a collection of catalogs of Jesuits in residence at Murray-Weigel was available to the Fordham community in Walsh Library, the Northeast Province of the Society of Jesus prohibited access to the catalogs on the basis of copyright law.
On Feb. 27, The Ram scheduled an appointment in the Special Collections department of the Walsh Library to view the catalogs. Following the scheduling of the appointment, The Ram was informed by Bob Howe, director of communications for the university and Vivian Shen, library liaison for the department of Archives & Special Collections, that access had been prohibited.
In an email on Feb. 27, Shen referred The Ram to contact the Northeast Province to seek permission for access to the catalogs. Shen said she received an email from Development about use of the directory.
Howe reached out to The Ram after reporters attempted to make an appointment to review the catalogs and referred them to the Northeast Province.
“The Northeast Province of The Society of Jesus has recently invoked its legal rights under copyright law to prohibit access by non-Provence members to the Catalog – a list of Jesuits and where they reside,” said Howe. “In order to comply with the Province’s copyright, the university will maintain the catalogs in our libraries, but require interested parties seeking access to contact the Province.”
Howe referred The Ram to Michael Berandino, criminal defense attorney representing the Province.
Berandino informed the university about the copyright issues the Province wanted to enforce, according to Howe.
Berandino declined to comment and directed The Ram to the Northeast Province’s public relations office.
The Northeast Province did not respond to requests for comment in time for publication.
According to a previous statement by the Northeast Province, the information in the catalogs is private.
According to the Jesuit order, these catalogs are published and mailed to each Jesuit yearly and contain lists of Jesuits divided geographically by province, house, residence or college. They also contain each Jesuit’s date of birth, year of entry into the Society of Jesus, year for final vows and are compiled for individual provinces.
After access to these catalogs was denied on grounds of copyright law, The Ram found three additional priests credibly accused of sexual abuse who once lived in Murray-Weigel.
Rev. John J. Gallen, S.J., was the subject of an investigation during the 1990s that confirmed allegations that he sexually abused minors throughout the 1970s and 1980s according to the Northeast Province’s Jan. 15 list of Jesuits with credible allegations of sexual abuse.
According to the list, during this period, Gallen was stationed at Woodstock College in Maryland, the University of Notre Dame in Indiana, St. Ignatius Parish in New York City and Corpus Christi Center in Phoenix. The Jesuits impeded Gallen in 2001, and in 2008 he was moved to Murray-Weigel where he died in 2011, according to a Minnesota law firm.
John M. Doolan, S.J., admitted in 1999 to abusing minors during the 1960s and 1970s, a period during which he was stationed at Xavier High School and Chuuk Parish in Micronesia, St. Thomas More Parish in New York City and Martyrs’ Shrine Retreats in Auriesville, New York according to the Northeast Province’s list.
In 2002, Doolan was sent to Murray-Weigel, according to Catholic New York. The Jesuits impeded Doolan in 2006, and he died while residing at Murray-Weigel in 2008.
John L. Farrand, S.J., was accused of abusing minors while at Regis High School in New York City in 1961 according to bishop accountability, a website that tracks and records credible incidents of clergy abuse. Farrand was moved to Brooklyn Prep High School in Brooklyn soon afterwards, where he continued to teach until 1972, when he was moved to Ecole de Provence in France. In 1974, Farrand left France for Colegio San Ignacio in Puerto Rico and returned to New York City in 1976, where he taught at Loyola School according to the Northeast Province’s list.
Farrand resided at Murray-Weigel according to a Jesuit newsletter that refers to Murray-Weigel as “the New York Province Infirmary” — the same name given to Murray-Weigel on the university’s website. Farrand died at Murray-Weigel in 2003.
Bob Howe, director of communications for the university, referred The Ram back to the university’s Feb. 12 statement. He said the situation has been corrected.
“Was the university as rigorous as it should have been in tracking who was housed in Murray-Weigel, and of their histories? Unfortunately, we were not, and we are horrified that Jesuits against whom there are credible allegations of abuse were in such close proximity to our students,” said Howe in the Feb. 12 statement.
Rev. Joseph M. McShane, S.J., president of the university, said all Jesuits living in Murray-Weigel are not “restricted” and are therefore completely free and innocent of any accusations of abuse.
