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Lawyer: Records Show Shanley Had Long History Of Abuse

Concerned Parishioners Tried To Warn Church

POSTED: 12:19 pm EDT April 26, 2002
UPDATED: 12:29 pm EDT April 26, 2002

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The developments concerning Cardinal Bernard Law's future come one day after additional documents were released that show more damaging evidence about the Rev. Paul Shanley.

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NewsCenter 5's Ed Harding said that Law is in Philadelphia Friday, and is expected back in the Bay State this weekend to celebrate Mass.

The documents, that include a personal journal entry from Shanley dated in 1972, are in the hands of attorney Eric MacLeish.

"One of the first things I do in a new city is to sign up at the local clinics for help with my VD, and then I wait. In no clinic have waited under four hours," Attorney Eric MacLeish read from one of the documents.

A 1975 letter from Thomas Flatley, a Boston businessman was also in the documents.

"As a Catholic, parent, citizen, I cannot remain silent and tolerate the actions of Father Shanley. I believe he introduced more kids to a permissive wrong way of life," Flatley wrote.

"We have in 1979, we have a letter that was prepared for Cardinal Medeiros, in which it appears that Paul Shanley was blackmailing the Archdiocese of Boston," MacLeish said.

A 1983 letter written by a California priest questioned if Shanley was at the North American Man-Boy Love Association founding conference.

Greg Ford was allegedly abused by Shanley

"This isn't the church that I know, this is organized crime," Greg Ford's father, Rodney, said.

Ford said that he sees the new documents as future proof.

"There is a conspiracy going on in the church. I think these documents will prove that. I think once the attorney looks at all the facts, that the grand jury should be assembled and from there I think indictments should come down on Cardinal Law," Rodney Ford said.

Eric MacLeish believes that both Medeiros and Law knew of Shanley's sexual activity, but they continued to allow him to remain a priest.

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