MADAWASKA – One by one parishioners of St. Thomas Aquinas parish came forward following weekend services speaking words of support and forgiveness of their priest to a representative from the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland.

“We are taught it is right to forgive,” one middle-aged male parishioner said. “But we must also forgive and forget.”

Sister Rita Mae Bissonnette, diocesan co-chancellor, was in Madawaska over the weekend gathering information and recommendations in the wake of last week’s revelations of sexual abuse of minors by two area priests.

The information came as part of an announcement by the diocese of a new policy revealing to parishioners which priests have been accused of sexually abusing a child.

The only active priests in the state identified by the diocese currently serve in the St. John Valley.

Last Sunday the Rev. Michael Doucette of St. Agatha and the Rev. John Audibert of Madawaska announced their past abuses of minors to their parishes.

Doucette abused a boy over a period of several years in Biddeford 22 years ago, according to information released by the diocese.

Audibert’s victim was a boy in a parish in Caribou 26 years ago.

Since last week’s revelations, community members have rallied around their priests.

“This happened over 20 years ago,” Cecile Pozzuto, a parishioner in St. Thomas, said Sunday. “Since then [Audibert] was forgiven.”

Like many in the predominately Catholic St. John Valley, Pozzuto questions decisions to reopen the case decades after the fact and the media’s ongoing coverage, referring to recent articles in Maine newspapers as “a low blow.”

“All of a sudden, this is out again,” she said. “I am upset for Father [Audibert]. The victims are now adults and received financial rewards from the church. It is time to move on.”

St. Thomas Aquinas church was packed for Saturday’s Lenten service, officiated by Audibert, where the readings and scriptures focused on the temptations of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden and on Christ’s 40 days in the desert battling temptations offered by Satan.

While the cycle of scriptures is prescribed by the Church’s hierarchy years in advance of the actual service, Bissonnette said Audibert’s homily was in his own words.

“The knowledge that comes with truth can be painful,” Audibert said to his parishioners. Resolution and reconciliation can come from the spirit of community, he said, while never directly referring to his own case.

Many in attendance took time to shake Audibert’s hand following the service where, at the end of the recessional out of the church, the priest accepted a bear-hug from his alter boy.

Parishioners speaking to Bissonnette appeared ready for reconciliation.

“We want Father [Audibert] to stay,” one female parishioner said.

“We are a forgiving people,” said another. “Father [Audibert] has been instrumental in showing us how to be forgiving.”

Still another parishioner indicated the fault is not entirely with Audibert. “These victims were not children,” the elderly female parishioner said. “They were 15 and 16 [years old]. They could have said ‘no’,”

Bissonnette listened to it all after Saturday’s mass and following Sunday’s two morning services.

“There is a lot of support for Father Audibert, here,” she said. “These people are very sincere.”

Following a closed door meeting with the parish council Saturday evening, Bissonnette said several recommendations were made that she will convey to Bishop Joseph Gerry.

“It was a lively meeting,” she said. “And a very productive discussion. My job now is to take those messages to the bishop.”

While declining to go into specifics of the discussion, Bissonnette did say the council members were very open in their feelings.

“They were very concerned about their pastor, their parish and about the victims,” she said.

The church, Bissonnette said, shares those concerns and said the victims have been offered counseling services.

“The church obviously does not condone what happened,” she said. “We want to help people heal.”

For their part, parish council members were pleased with the meeting.

“It was a very good and very uplifting meeting,” Don Chasse, council president, said Sunday morning. “I felt we were very well heard.”

Sentiment in the meeting was running strongly for Audibert, Chasse said, with very few concerns brought up.

“There was a lot of support for Father [Audibert],” he said. “It was mostly positive.”

Others elsewhere, though, say the priests’ behavior creates a cycle of abuse.

Peter Keaton, 43, was 16 when he was abused by Audibert. He is now in prison, serving a four-year sentence for sexually molesting a child.

One reason Keaton received that relatively long sentence is that the 10-year-old child he molested was later discovered performing a sex act on a 3-year-old at a day care center, acting out the “game” he had learned from Keaton.

People who know Keaton say one in three male victims of child sexual assaults later molests someone else. The 10-year-old is further proof of the damage done, they assert.

Vivian Ritchie, executive director of the Downeast Health Services rape crisis center in Ellsworth, said people who were abused as children often can’t grasp the difference between sexual behavior that is right and wrong.

“Without good boundaries, many people regress into these behaviors when life isn’t going well and they seek out what they had in childhood,” she said.

Though the abuse took place more than two decades ago, Bissonnette said talking about it now is an important process.

“The church, as are many institutions in the world, is learning full disclosure is necessary,” she said. “Parents and parishioners now know and have choices to make.”

Full disclosure of past cases of abuse, she said, protects not only children, but also the priest.

“People can be concerned and offer support of their priest,” Bissonnette said. “At the same time, people have the right to protect their children. We all have a responsibility in the solution.”

Both Audibert and Doucette received extensive counseling therapy following their disclosures of the abuse, Bissonnette said. Since then, neither has been assigned to work with minors as part of their church duties.

Bissonnette said she does not know when the Bishop will act on the recommendations.

Next week Monsignor Marc Caron, assistant to Bishop Garry, will be in St. Agatha to hear from those parishioners.

Caron was chosen to travel to St. Agatha due to his past involvement with the parish and to provide continuity, Bissonnette said.

In St. Thomas, many are ready to close the book on this particular chapter of their priest’s history.

“It’s time to move on,” Chasse said. “We are ready to move forward.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.