![]() At some point, Al Blanchard moved on from being a simple member of the group to being one of its facilitators. Like the Franczyks, the Blanchards also are parents of a gay child and parishioners of Sacred Heart. McDonnell before beginning their meetings. George Farland and Springfield Bishop Timothy A. Parishioners at Sacred Heart, the Franczyks sought the approval of both Sacred Heart pastor Msgr. The group, which meets monthly at Sacred Heart Church in Springfield, was founded by Ann Franczyk, a nurse practitioner and her husband, Chet, a pediatrician. (Al and Kathy Blanchard were earlier participants in Always Our Children.) Patricia Finn McManamy, director of prevention and victims services for the diocese, told iobserve that, upon reflection, she was slow to realize how Blanchard’s recent involvement in a local support group for the parents of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered children was a violation of diocesan policy. Blanchard, who was represented by his own attorney in the settlement negotiations, personally contributed to what diocesan attorney John J. Under the agreement, the woman received an undisclosed sum of money. ![]() After the commission found her story credible, the diocese, the woman and Blanchard reached a legal agreement. He did confirm that he voluntarily sought laicization and a dispensation from his promise of celibacy so that he could later validly marry in the church.īlanchard apparently had no further contact with his victim until 1993, when she presented her history to the Springfield Diocese’s then-misconduct commission (now theĭiocesan Review Board). He was laicized on June 6, 1980, according to chancery records.Ĭiting legal counsel, Blanchard declined to discuss his relationship with the woman, or his work history with the state’s child protection agency, in a telephone interview with iobserve. Two years later, then-Father Blanchard left active ministry on Sept. It ended around 1975, when she was 19 years old. She continued what she later realized was an abusive relationship with the priest after 1973, when he was transferred to St. He began his involvement with the then-Agawam teenager in 1971, when she went to him for counseling about problems at home. bishops’ pastoral statement which carries the same name.įather Blanchard began his priestly ministry at St. The group was founded in 2006 to serve the goals and objectives of the U.S. But key elements of her comments to the Boston Globe columnist have been confirmed by church officials.Īs a result of this inquiry, Blanchard was removed last week as a facilitator for Always Our Children, a local support group for parents of gay and lesbian children which meets at Springfield’s Sacred Heart parish. The woman, who is maintaining her anonymity in media interviews, had not, by press time, contacted iobserve after a message was left through an intermediary. We thought he was cool,” the woman told Cullen. My aunt called him the ‘hippie priest.’ He had long hair, sandals. Blanchard of Chicopee, who served as an active priest of the Diocese of Springfield from 1966 to 1977, made the news June 6 when Boston Globe columnist Kevin Cullen told the story of a Chicopee woman who says she had a four-year sexual relationship with then-Father Blanchard at St. SPRINGFIELD – Recent activities of a laicized priest who worked for many years at the Massachusetts Department of Social Services (DSS) has raised questions about how “zero tolerance” policies towards individuals credibly accused of sexually abusing a minor can be enforced. Church, State Agency Deal with Activities of Former Priest, Father Bill Pomerleau, iobserve, Ĭhurch, State Agency Deal with Activities of Former Priest
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