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Archbishop: Accused Priest Will Leave Church
Priest's Attorney Says He's Staying Put
POSTED: 7:10 pm EDT March 28,
2007
UPDATED: 8:59 pm EDT March 28,
2007
HARTFORD, Conn. -- The archbishop of Hartford said there is no room in the Catholic church for a priest who is accused of sexually assaulting young boys.Archbishop Henry Mansell said the church wants Father Stephen Foley to vacate his residence at the seminary and sell his car.Eleven men have accused Foley of molesting them when they were boys. Foley denies the accusations and has never been arrested.Channel 3 Eyewitness News reporter Susan Raff reported that Foley is currently residing at St. Thomas Seminary in Bloomfield and is driving a Crown Victoria that resembles cars used by police officers.
Foley is accused of using the same car to lure young boys when he was a police and fire chaplain.Mansell told Eyewitness News that Foley, who is still ordained as a priest, is not allowed by the church to work with the public and cannot wear anything that suggests that he is ordained.After the allegations of abuse originally surfaced, the Hartford Archdiocese reassigned Foley and paid a settlement to his alleged victims.Tony Lembo claims he was abused as a boy by Foley and wrote a book about what the priest allegedly did to him."I decided to tell my story because I wanted to make sure that everyone knew how heartless and manipulative and selfish Foley was and how the church and others protected him," Lembo said.Foley's attorney told Eyewitness News that Foley has not agreed to leave the Catholic church and that he has certain conical rights."Oh, he's leaving the seminary. He's agreed to leave," Mansell said. "We acted on that immediately, and he's agreed to leave the seminary."
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