Priest Reassigned After 1979 Incident

An archbishop who established a model program for handling sexual abuse by clergy transferred a priest who was a known sex offender from one parish to another in 1979 and did not remove him until 1992, according to documents unsealed by a judge.

Archbishop Rembert Weakland, head of the Roman Catholic archdiocese here, said in a sworn deposition that he “didn’t think it should be divulged” to the new parish that the priest had molested two children.

Weakland is widely considered one of the church’s most liberal leaders concerning economic and social issues. He established a program 14 years ago that has been lauded as an example of how dioceses should reach out to victims and swiftly deal with perpetrators of sexual abuse.