Priests accused of abuse still active in KC diocese

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- The Catholic Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph has admitted that a retired priest accused of child sexual abuse remains active, but only in a role that officials say doesn't put children at risk.

Diocese vicar general Patrick R. Rush told The Kansas City Star for a story Saturday that four other retired priests have faced sexual abuse accusations as well. Those four priests also have varying levels of activity in the diocese, Rush said. He would not elaborate.

In the case of the fifth priest, the diocese paid $20,000 in 1999 to settle a civil lawsuit accusing him of sexually abusing a former teen-age parishioner, the diocese said.

That priest, the Rev. Thomas J. Ward, 69, is retired but has been listed as "assisting priest" at St. Margaret's Catholic Community parish in Lee's Summit. He denied the accusations in a deposition.

The revelations about the five priests come after Bishop Raymond J. Boland wrote to parishioners last month, saying, "We presently have no priest, teacher or youth minister in a parish or school who has ever been accused of any form of child sexual abuse."

Rush said Boland's statement was not misleading, because Ward and the four other accused priests are retired and therefore not officially assigned to any parishes. Rush characterized those priests as free-lancers who assist in parishes when needed and are paid $50 each time they celebrate Mass.

"The way Tom Ward functions puts no children at risk," Rush said.

Rush said two of the priests were accused just in the last week, and the diocese had not had a chance to investigate the validity of the allegations.

"They are not in parish ministry, and we are able to have supervision of them in one way or the other, and in some instances we don't think the accusations are credible," he said.

The civil suit in Ward's case, filed by Nicolas Gray in 1994, contended that Ward sexually abused Gray over a 10-year period beginning in 1982, when Gray was 14. The lawsuit also alleged that the diocese "conspired to cover up the illicit activities."

No criminal charges were filed against Ward, and church officials said a psychological evaluation of Ward found no reason to believe the allegations were true. Rush said it was his understanding that the church never covered up any illicit activities in the case.

'A great help to us'

Ward officially retired in September 1996. But in the St. Margaret's church bulletin and on the church's Web site, Ward has been listed as an "assisting priest" on the pastoral staff. Ward has a staff e-mail address. The Web site also has named Ward as one of two contacts for parishioners who want to schedule weddings.

Ward sometimes celebrates Mass at St. Margaret's and helps out at other parishes as well, said the Rev. Michael Rice, St. Margaret's pastor.

"He's been a great help for us," Rice said. "He takes the load off of me."

Rush said he had instructed Rice on Friday to remove Ward's name from the church bulletin and Web site as "assisting pastor," and as a point of contact for couples wanting to schedule marriages.

Gray said he was angered to learn that Ward still was working in the diocese.

"I had just safely assumed that he was no longer performing any duties," he said. "I'm furious that he still has an actual right to be a priest."

Gray, who had never spoken publicly about the case, said he agreed to come forward now to help others in the wake of revelations about sexual abuse in the Roman Catholic Church.

He said Ward's abuse began in fall 1982 in the rectory at St. Catherine's parish in Kansas City, and continued intermittently for 10 years.

Ward, meanwhile, served several parishes in the diocese throughout his career.

After Gray sued in 1994, Boland placed Ward on a six-month leave of absence from his position as pastor at Nativity of the Blessed Mary parish in Independence.