Notes on two previous Assumption priests:
Fr. DeFolco
Please pray for Fr. Jay DeFolco, who has been fighting B-cell Lymphoma. He recently had a fall and is back in the hospital. He was pastor of Assumption in the late 90s and early 00s. If you would like to be in touch or offer condolences, his contact information can be found at https://archseattle.org/all-staff/rev-joseph-a-jay/.
Fr. Phalen
Unfortunately, right before Easter the Archdiocese announced that it had settled a sexual abuse allegation against Fr. Thomas Phalen from his time as pastor of St. Anne’s Parish in Tacoma. (News Release) This matters for us because Fr. Phalen served as parochial vicar at Assumption from 1957 until 1962, and even though we do not currently have any indications of sexual abuse by Fr. Phalen while he was assigned here, it is important to bring visibility to the possibility.
Fr. Phalen joins two other priests on the credibly accused list who served at Assumption: Fr. Dermot Foyle (1952 – 1953) and Fr. Michael Cody (1972 – 1975). Regarding these other two priests, we only know of abuse perpetrated by Fr. Cody while he was assigned here.
The sexual abuse of minors is a horrible sin that has profound effects on the rest of their lives and often ripple effects on their own families and communities. While the Catholic Church has had a public and profound reckoning with its own history of sexual abuse and cover up, it is not even close to an exclusively Catholic problem. This sin remains tragically present in our communities and in our families, and the Church’s Safe Environment program (that every parish staff member, volunteer, school student, and faith formation student must take or refresh each year) aims not just to prevent sexual abuse in church environments, but also to protect children everywhere they find themselves.
Regarding sexual abuse by clergy, however, the Church has a special responsibility to serve and to heal. I stand ready to walk with any abuse survivor who reaches out, though the nature of the abuse often means a priest is the last person they want to help them. So I pray for the survivors in our parish, Archdiocese, and wider Church, that they might find whatever help they might need.
Information about the Archdiocese’s efforts to protect and heal from sexual abuse can be found at our Protect and Heal website, which also contains information for those seeking healing resources or those who need to make an abuse report.
Fr. Moore 