Diocese to Drop Boston Lawsuit

The Roman Catholic Diocese of San Bernardino has agreed to withdraw a lawsuit against the Archdiocese of Boston accusing Boston officials of hiding the history of alleged molestation by a former priest, Paul Shanley, when he moved to California.

San Bernardino Bishop Gerard R. Barnes made the decision as a show of support after speaking with Boston’s newly appointed Archbishop Sean O’Malley, said the Rev. Howard Lincoln, a spokesman for the Southern California diocese.

“We are confident the new leadership in Boston will be willing to take responsibility of the past action of the archdiocese,” Lincoln said. “Both expressed a sincere desire to bring a just and expedient resolution to this issue in a way that promotes healing.”

The San Bernardino diocese filed the lawsuit in April accusing former Boston Archbishop Cardinal Bernard F. Law of suppressing information on Shanley’s background when he was transferred to the Southern California diocese.

In 1990, an auxiliary bishop of Boston sent a letter stating Shanley was in “good standing.” But records made public last year showed Shanley had a history of alleged sexual abuse dating to 1967.

The suit, filed in San Bernardino County Superior Court, was believed to be the first time one U.S. Catholic diocese sued another, according to both dioceses. The San Bernardino diocese argued it should not be held liable for the actions of church leaders in Boston, who were aware of Shanley’s history.

Shanley, 72, now faces 10 counts of child rape in Massachusetts. He has pleaded not guilty and is free on bail. The legal action by San Bernardino stems from a lawsuit by a man who alleges that he was abused by Shanley as a teen and seeks damages from both dioceses.

In that suit, Kevin English, now 30, charged that he was molested in the Big Bear Lake community and a Palm Springs bed-and-breakfast that the priest co-owned. Neither his attorney nor the Boston archdiocese could be reached for comment.

In April, San Bernardino diocese officials warned that a large settlement in the Shanley case could push it into bankruptcy. It recently had its insurers pay half of a $4.2-million settlement involving another priest convicted of sexually abusing a minor.

Shanley does not face criminal charges in San Bernardino and Riverside counties in connection with English. Prosecutors decided Massachusetts officials had a stronger case. He is awaiting trial there on charges of raping four boys from 1979 to 1989.