The Rev. Darell Mitchell was in Yakima, Wash., in 2003 when he was accused of having nude pictures of boys on his computer. No charges were ever filed.
The Survivors' Network of those Abused by Priests, or SNAP, has in recent weeks - and as recently as Thursday - protested his reassignment to two St. Louis-area parishes. SNAP leaders said it was wrong of the archdiocese and Archbishop Raymond Burke not to tell parishioners of Mitchell's "questionable past," especially since he was serving at a parish that includes an elementary school.
"Children here are safer now, but Archbishop Burke should have removed him, never allowed him here and still owes Catholics an explanation for his secrecy and recklessness," said David Clohessy, SNAP's national director.
Mitchell told The Associated Press last month he was falsely accused. A message left for him Thursday was not returned.
The St. Louis archdiocese said in a statement that Mitchell's background had been evaluated before he began serving in Missouri, and Burke found him suited for ministry in a parish.
The statement said Yakima's bishop signed a certificate saying there was nothing in Mitchell's background that raised questions about his fitness for ministry. Archdiocese communications director Anne Steffens said the archdiocese had no comment beyond the statement.
Let me get this staight. Fr. Mitchell was accused. He was investigated. He was cleared. No charges were filed. So, naturally, he must be guilty?
Archbishop Burke doesn't owe Clohessy anything but a crozier upside the head.
Update: For readers like commenter Mary Pat, here's a lot of the reason this makes me so mad. I've found out more about my pastor's railroading, and it sickens me even more than it did back in April. Are these bozos at SNAP so desperate for bogeymen that they'll go to this kind of lengths to run men out of an already depleted priesthood?
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