< Back to front page Text size – +

Cape Cod priest, accused of abuse, flees

E-mail|Link|Comments (2) Posted by Michael Paulson August 20, 2008 08:09 AM

A 46-year-old priest in South Yarmouth, the Rev. Jose Afonso Lima, has fled to Brazil after being accused of abusing a child in Connecticut. In today's Globe, David Abel reports:

"Church officials said Lima learned of the allegations when he received a letter last week from the Connecticut Department of Children and Families. (Fall River Diocese spokesman John) Kearns said that Lima promptly alerted church officials about the allegations and denied them. He was placed on temporary leave last Wednesday and told to leave his residence last Thursday at St. Pius the Tenth Parish and to go to Danbury, Conn., where he was to remain under church supervision until the allegations were resolved. 'I am deeply troubled by this matter and understand how devastating the announcement of it is to the Brazilian community,' Bishop George W. Coleman of Fall River wrote in a letter to parishioners last week."

The Cape Cod Times reported yesterday that Coleman had over the weekend alerted Brazilian congregations on the Cape and in Fall River to the allegation.

« Back to front page

2 comments so far...

Again this is not a gay issue, however, if one things that way, then, all the Roman Catholic clergy, starting to the top are in bad shape.

Posted by John Peter August 21, 08 07:42 PM

No this is not a gay issue but it is a crime issue, The Catholic Church has systematically and methodically covered up and denied sexual abuse crimes without any visible remorse. This is organized crime. I have witnessed the bishops cover up the sins of pedophilia and I have seen bishops condone homosexual lifestyles amongst priests while condeming men who desire to leave the priesthood to marry.

Posted by Jack Poland September 10, 08 08:30 PM

You must be logged in to submit a comment.

This blogger might want to review your comment before posting it.

Blogger

Michael Paulson covers religion for The Boston Globe. He shared in the Pulitzer Prize in 2003, won the Mike Berger, Templeton and Supple awards in 2008, and is a four-time winner of the Wilbur Award.
E-mail mpaulson@globe.com.

Articles of Faith on Twitter

Follow GlobePaulson on Twitter

views

Harvey Cox, the Hollis professor of divinity at Harvard University, marks his retirement by asserting a little-used right of his professorship -- to graze a cow in Harvard Yard. Photo, by Barry Chin of the Globe staff, taken on Sept. 10, 2009 in Cambridge, Mass.