When Bede Parry was ordained in 1983, Conception Abbey’s Jerome Hanus (photo, left) had some advice for Parry. Abbot Jerome Hanus told Parry that he must be “especially observant” of his vow of celibacy. Seems like odd advice for a monk on his ordination day… unless the advice comes from Hanus, who was well aware of Parry’s history of sexual misconduct.
Archive for July 29, 2011
Hanus to Parry: Be Especially Observant of Celibacy Vow
Tip of the Iceberg
We have received tips and allegations of misconduct against several members of the Conception Abbey community including:
Conception Abbey named in second lawsuit
(Maryville, Mo.) A second lawsuit was filed last week in Nodaway County Circuit Court alleging that a former monk there, who was also an ordained priest, abused a teenage boy in the early 1980s.
St. John’s Abbey Covered Up Abuse by Bede Parry
(Left to Right… St. John’s Abbey Monks Fr. Rene McGraw, Fr. Roman Paur, Abbot Theisen, Abbot Klassen)
Br. Bede Parry from Conception Abbey in Missouri attended the St. John’s University School of Theology between 1979 and 1982. During his second year, Br. Parry pursued a college freshman, twenty years his junior, who was interested in music and the priesthood. The first sexual misconduct included oral sex in a St. John’s University music room in the spring of 1981. The misconduct continued into the fall of 1981 when another student, also being pursued by Br. Parry, reported the misconduct to Fr. Rene McGraw.
Abbey Faces Another Lawsuit
(News-Press Now) Another lawsuit was filed Thursday against Conception Abbey, alleging a priest sexually abused the plaintiff in the 1980s.
Second lawsuit filed against Conception Abbey alleging cover-up over former monk
(Kansas City Star) A second lawsuit has been filed against a northwest Missouri abbey alleging cover-up of sexual abuse by a former monk who directed its boys’ choir in the 1980s.
Lawsuit #2 Filed Against Conception Abbey
A second lawsuit was filed in Missouri today. The lawsuit, which names Conception Abbey as a defendant, alleges that Bede Parry sexually abused a fifteen year old member of the Conception Abbey Boys Choir over a eighteen month period beginning in 1982.
Civil Lawsuit Casts Wide Net
A civil lawsuit against Conception Abbey in rural Missouri has raised lingering questions about decisions made by both Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori and the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Dubuque, Iowa.
Making excuses: The case of Bede Parry
Bede Parry lied to become an Episcopal priest in the Diocese of Nevada. He tried to make it sound like the truth, but it wasn’t. It made him sound like a repentant child molester, and the diocese took the bait hook, line and sinker. Now Parry’s lies have forced him – again – from the ordained ministry of a Christian denomination, and they have compelled the bishop of Nevada to make excuses.
Known and unknown, things done and left undone
Since the news came that the Rev. Bede Parry has resigned from All Saints Church in Las Vegas and from the Episcopal priesthood, we have had statements mainly from Bishop Daniel Edwards and the Diocese of Nevada (here, here) a description of the process used to receive Parry’s orders, a news story from Episcopal News Service and timeline from the Office of Public Affairs. As the story has bubbled up a little on the main-stream media, and there is much discussion on the internet, it took over a week for the first substantive statements to come out.
Silence from NY on clergy abuse case
Presiding Bishop Katherine Jefferts Schori broke national Church canon law by receiving a Catholic priest with a history of sexual misconduct into the ministry of the Episcopal Church, a leading canon lawyer has concluded.
Statement regarding resignation of Fr. Bede Parry
We have now reviewed the history of how Bede Parry became a priest in Nevada. I will tell you the story as forthrightly as possible. Many people are involved in this story. To understand their decisions and actions, it is necessary first to understand two things: what this story is not and what our guiding principles are.
Myth Buster
As the sex abuse scandal among Roman Catholic priests unfolded, it was often said that it never would have happened if the Church did not require celibacy. Of course, that myth was busted by the staggering incidence of abuse committed by married men against their own children.
Nevada bishop says diocese acted properly in receiving Roman Catholic priest
[Episcopal News Service] Diocese of Nevada Bishop Dan Edwards on July 6 defended the actions of his predecessor and other diocesan officials in allowing a Roman Catholic priest to become an Episcopal Church priest after he admitted he’d sexually abused a teenage boy in the late 1980s.