Catholic Priest

In a pair of lawsuits, the Archdiocese of Philadelphia and three Catholic priests who have died have been accused of concealing the sexual abuse of two boys. The abuse occurred between 1960 and 1964 at Cardinal Dougherty High School, and between 1970 and 1972 at St. Bridget's Church in the East Falls section of the city, according to suits filed in Philadelphia Common Pleas Court against the archdiocese and the priests' estates. In a written statement, archdiocese spokeswoman Catherine L. Rossi said the archdiocese has not had an opportunity to review the litigation, but noted that "the three priests named in the lawsuits are deceased and the allegations are reported to have occurred over 30 years ago. " Nicholas Siravo of the Wissinoming section of the city says he was abused while a student at Cardinal Dougherty High School.

A 35-year-old Delaware man filed a lawsuit yesterday alleging that a priest who was a Catholic school principal sexually abused him weekly for nine years when he was a schoolboy in Wilmington. The now retired priest, the Rev. James W. O'Neill, was reassigned from Salesianum High School to Archbishop Wood High School in Warminster soon after the first allegation was lodged in 1985. O'Neill has not been accused of any improprieties at Archbishop Wood, where he was principal from 1986 to 1991.

The Salvadoran worshipers at St. Lawrence Roman Catholic Church lost their Spanish-speaking priest after just five months. The Rev. Lou Rojas didn't leave the Lindenwold parish in June because he wanted to. He had to. Rojas had been doing double duty at parishes 20 miles apart. And the other, in an Atlantic County town swollen with migrant farmworkers, needed him more. So the Camden Diocese has rotated a lineup of Spanish-speaking priests into St. Lawrence rather than allow yet another growing Latino community to go unserved.

At the height of the sex-abuse scandals surrounding the Catholic Church last summer, seven women were quietly "ordained" as priests on a boat in the Danube River between Austria and Germany. Six weeks later, the Vatican excommunicated the group of Catholics, which included the Revs. Ida Raming and Iris Muller, both German theologians. Meanwhile, many of the priests accused of sexual abuse remain in the church, advocates of female priests say, and the discrepancy angers many Catholics who support the ordination of women.

Police were questioning a man last night who they say could be one of the three robbers who have recently terrorized pedestrians in the Northern Liberties section of the city, and who may be responsible for an attack that left a 74-year-old Catholic priest hospitalized. The suspect - whose name was not released because charges had not been filed - was being questioned last night by East Detectives, police said. No further details would be released until this morning, police said.

It was 23 years ago when parents at St. Joseph's Church in Quincy, Mass., complained that the Rev. Robert V. Gale had sexually molested some of the parish altar boys. So, the Archdiocese of Boston reassigned Gale to St. Jude's in Waltham - where he was put in charge of the altar boys. Yesterday, Gale was indicted by a Middlesex County grand jury, charged with four counts of raping one of those Waltham altar boys between 1980 and 1984, when the alleged victim was between 10 and 14 years old. Over four years, the boy was molested about twice a month, according to Middlesex District Attorney Martha Coakley.

Open City, shot in Rome by Roberto Rossellini in the first months following Italy's liberation by the Allies, is a landmark in the history of cinema, but never mind that - it's also a powerful tale that brings the epic turmoil of World War II down to human scale. Starring the sad-eyed and sultry Anna Magnani and the rugged Marcello Pagliero, this documentary-like drama, set in the middle of the war, tracks a wanted Resistance leader's desperate attempt to keep clear of the Nazis, and how the lives of a Catholic priest, a Resistance brethren whose girlfriend (Magnani)

Joe Quarles said he was an altar boy at a Frankford church in the late 1950s when the sexual attacks by the priest began. One horrible day it happened right in church, near the altar, Quarles said. He said he tried to disengage from the pain by looking up at Jesus on the crucifix. "And as I stared at it," he said, "I thought, 'Even You won't help me.' " That's one of the deepest traumas of priest abuse, believes the Rev. Gary Hayes, another youthful victim - who went on to become a Catholic priest.

Just about now, Joseph Ruane, a married Catholic priest, could be shaking a finger at the church and saying, "I told you so. " But that is not the Christian way. And make no mistake: Ruane may have resigned his parish post in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, he may celebrate Mass at home or participate in a Mass led by a woman, he may officiate at the weddings of divorced people, he may be married - but he is still a Roman Catholic and...

Sylvester Stallone has faith that his TV series, which he said he based on the actual exploits of a Catholic priest in Philadelphia, will air next fall despite the poor timing. Father Lefty, created and produced by Stallone and starring Danny Nucci as an unconventional Miami priest, is under consideration by CBS for its new season lineup, to be announced next week. It's based on the experiences of a Philadelphia priest, the Rev. Robert Lefrack, who used a tough, unlikely approach when he was assigned to a gang-infested parish, Stallone said.