Parishioners support priest in Old Town Clergyman used gay Web site

OLD TOWN – The Rev. Normand Richard’s apology to parishioners for his involvement in a Web site for gay priests was met with prolonged applause and a standing ovation Saturday afternoon at Holy Family Catholic Church.

The reaction was the same at the Sunday Masses, according to Theresa Maher, a member of the parish crisis team that took part in meetings with the priest and representatives of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland.

Richard, who was in the midst of his annual vacation when the news broke last week, returned to the pulpit to read a prepared statement approved by diocesan officials and attorneys.

“I apologize and ask forgiveness,” Richard said Saturday afternoon. “I want to continue to serve the parish, but if you feel my presence would be divisive, then I would not want to be the cause of such division.”

The Rev. Anthony Kuzia, a diocesan vicar for priests, celebrated the weekend Masses and delivered the homily.

“People were glad Father [Richard] was there and back in the parish,” Maher said Sunday. “I saw a lot of reactions in the sessions after Masses. People were very honest about their feelings. I saw a lot of courage on everyone’s part. It takes a lot for people to come forward and express how they feel.”

Last week, the diocese confirmed that Richard was one of three Maine priests who participated in sexually explicit e-mail exchanges on a now-defunct Web site for gay Catholic clergy. The St. Sebastian’s Angels Web site was shut down in 2000 after Roman Catholic Faithful, a conservative Catholic group based in Illinois, exposed its existence.

Richard’s involvement was made public by the Maine chapter of Voice of the Faithful, a reform group formed by Catholics in the wake of the Boston sex abuse scandal.

The Old Town priest was disciplined but not suspended in 2000 for his involvement with the Web site, Sue Bernard, spokeswoman for the Maine diocese, said last week.

Bernard also confirmed that Richard was sent away for treatment in 1991 after he had a relationship with a transitional deacon studying for the priesthood under his supervision. The Old Town priest had made reference to the incident in one of his postings to the Web site.

Richard told his parishioners Saturday that he got involved with the Web site with “the best of intentions.” He said that when the site “deteriorated, I saw a need to remove myself from it completely” before its existence was made public.

“I sought reconciliation and forgiveness,” the priest said, referring to his confession about his involvement in the Web site. “I have remained faithful … though my sin has been publicly exposed.”

Maher said Sunday that parish members were upset that they had learned of their priest’s involvement in the Web site through the media rather than from Richard. She said that people had expressed concern about the public airing of the priest’s sins.

“As Catholics, we have this understanding of the power of reconciliation as a sacrament,” she said. “Father [Richard] availed himself of that and was remorseful. We really feel that when sins are confessed they are forgiven.

“There’s a sacredness to the anonymity of going to a priest in sacrament of reconciliation. When you do that, you put trust in your god that the sin itself is gone. For all of this to resurface so much later has been hard for people.”

Maher said that as far as she knew, no parish members planned to ask Bishop Joseph J. Gerry to replace Richard due to the revelations.

While the priest was meeting with his parishioners in Old Town, the diocese announced the pastor of a church in Lyman has stepped down pending an investigation of a report of sexual abuse of a minor about 20 years ago.

The Rev. Thomas Lee, 75, was asked to relinquish his post at St. Philip Parish while the church investigates the allegation, diocese officials said.

In a statement to the parish at services Saturday, Gerry said Lee stepped down voluntarily last year while officials first investigated the accusation. Lee, who denied the charge, returned to his post after the investigation was unable to substantiate the claim.

Gerry said new information has been received in the past week regarding the allegation, and that he asked Lee to step down again while the investigation is under way.