One priest flunked a class on dogma in seminary school.

Another retired early because of crippling back pain.

Yet another priest was notorious for not paying his bills on time.

The 2,000 internal documents released by the Archdiocese of Portland on Tuesday evening revealed thousands of details about 14 priests accused of molesting children in Oregon from the 1950s to the 1990s.

But most of the details have nothing to do with sexual abuse.

As a result, the documents shed little new light on a sex scandal that involved dozens of priests, forced the Portland Archdiocese into an unprecedented bankruptcy in 2004 and cost in excess of $100 million.

With some exceptions, what’s notable is what’s not in the documents.

Thomas Dulcich, a Portland attorney who represents the archdiocese, said thousands of pages of documents are already in the public record and have been thoroughly scoured.

"Maybe there isn’t much more to the story," Dulcich said.

One file on the Rev. Erasto Guzman Chavez contains several pages regarding sex-abuse allegations. The file contains about 10 letters from parishioners at St. Alexander Parish in Hillsboro accusing the priest of molesting preteen and teenage girls. The allegations included kissing, touching breasts and putting his hand up one girl’s blouse.

"It is very upsetting to me to know that there was knowledge of this type of activity four years ago," one letter writer said.

"We as a community need to call into question our own responsibility in what has happened since Erasto Guzman’s inappropriate behavior was first reported."

The most recent release also includes hundreds of pages about the Rev. Maurice Grammond, the most notorious pedophile priest in Oregon.

Attorneys for those who accused Grammond of sexual abuse say church officials knew about his behavior by the late 1950s, but the archdiocese says nothing showed up in his personnel file until 1992.

On Feb. 6, 1992, the Rev. Charles Lienert, an archdiocesan official, wrote a memo indicating that Grammond had no previous allegations of sex abuse, even in the secret archives.

On the same day, Lienert wrote a second memo summarizing a meeting in which Grammond appeared "unannounced in an agitated condition" because of the accusations. Grammond told Lienert that he couldn’t remember what happened 20 years previously and threatened to hire a lawyer.

"He said that Archbishop Dwyer had talked to him about this years ago, and that Archbishop Dwyer was a decent bishop," Lienert’s memo said. "He said that Fr. Jim Harris was accused of child abuse fifteen years ago and nothing has happened to him."

The recent release includes more than 100 pages on Harris. A few carefully worded letters about his visit to a California psychiatric clinic in 1972 hinted that he had been accused of sexual abuse.

Absent from the latest release are any new documents about Thomas Laughlin, a former priest who admitted sexually abusing dozens of boys in Oregon over several decades. Laughlin pleaded guilty in 1983 to molesting two boys and later was defrocked.

Dulcich said Laughlin, who is still alive, is the subject of a recent multimillion-dollar lawsuit, and his attorney asked the archdiocese not to release his personnel file.

Kelly Clark, a Portland attorney representing dozens of people who claim they were molested by priests, said there were thousands of pages of documents about Laughlin that have yet to be made public.

Dulcich said the process of releasing documents was ongoing.

"You wonder if there is some other agenda on the part of the people who continue to complain about the archdiocese as it continues to release thousands of documents," he said.

Ashbel S. (Tony) Green: 503-221-8202; tonygreen@news.oregonian.com

The move is part of the Catholic Church’s bankruptcy reorganization plan

By Ryan Geddes
LocalNewsDaily.com
Apr 17, 2007

The Archdiocese of Portland in Oregon plans to release to the public internal documents about church personnel accused of child abuse over the last 50 years as part of its recently approved bankruptcy settlement, church officials and lawyers for sex abuse claimants announced Tuesday.

On Friday, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Elizabeth Perris confirmed the Oregon Catholic Church’s proposed Chapter 11 bankruptcy plan, which was filed in 2004 after a wave of child sex abuse claims filed against priests and other church employees. That agreement calls for the court to approve about $50 million in settlements and to establish a fund for future payouts of about $20 million.

Tuesday’s announcement went a step further, approving the release of what claimants’ lawyers say are previously secret documents detailing accused pedophile priests’ activities. Initial releases will comprise "several dozen" documents on fewer than 12 priests, lawyers said, but in the future could become a "virtually comprehensive release of the archives of the past."

The documents are scheduled to be released in May.

"Now, for the first time, we have reached an historic agreement with the Archbishop, his lawyers, and representatives of the parishes that will lead to the release of significant historic documents and files concerning child abuse over the last half-century in this Church, secret archives of secret crimes and secret shame will be made public for the community to see and understand," said attorney Kelly Clark in a statement Tuesday.

Clark has represented victims of alleged church sex abuse for 15 years. Kelly and other victims’ attorneys praised the announcement, made at the U.S. Courthouse in downtown Portland Tuesday afternoon.

"We are especially pleased by Archbishop Vlazny’s decision to renounce the secrecy and protectiveness of the past and agree to the public release of a substantial portion of the personnel records of offending priests," said attorney David Slader, who also represents abuse claimants. "A policy of openness and transparency will go far toward preventing future tragedies."

In December 2006, U.S. District Judge Michael Hogan announced that more than 150 people who said they were sexually abused by Oregon priests had settled their civil lawsuits against the Archdiocese of Portland, a development that paved the way for last week’s approved bankruptcy reorganization plan and Tuesday’s records announcement.

"It is my sincere prayer that our ability to compensate the many victims will assist them in their efforts to achieve personal healing and peace of heart," Archbishop John Vlazny said at Tuesday’s news conference. "As we Catholics throughout this scandal have learned much about child abuse, it is my sincere desire that these lessons will not have to be repeated in any other forum."

Frank Lenzi of AM 860 KPAM contributed to this report

In a surprise move Tuesday, Portland Archbishop John Vlazny released 2,000 pages of documents on priests accused of sexually abusing Oregon children.

Vlazny described the release in a statement as "part of the healing process and in the interest of transparency."

Bud Bunce, a spokesman for the Archdiocese of Portland, said the release had nothing to do with Pope Benedict XVI’s trip to the United States or the pope’s apology for the priest sexual abuse scandal.

ortland attorneys who have filed sexual abuse suits against the archdiocese said they were baffled by the unscheduled release, which comes less than two weeks after one round of failed mediation and a day before another is set to start.

"I don’t know how the archdiocese thinks," said attorney Kelly Clark, who represents dozens of people who say they were sexually abused by priests. "I just don’t get it."

Erin Olson, another plaintiff’s attorney who is scheduled to begin mediation today, also said she has no idea what was in the new batch of documents. But Olson said she doubts the release includes documents that name priests who haven’t been identified and are still working in parishes.

In 2004, the Portland archdiocese became the first in the country to seek bankruptcy protection from priest sexual abuse litigation. A 2007 settlement plan set aside about $70 million for priest accusers. And Vlazny promised to release church personnel files involving abusive priests.

The archdiocese released a batch of documents a few months later, but lawyers for the church and plaintiffs’ attorneys have been fighting over what else to release ever since.

In his statement, Vlazny explained that he opposed releasing documents involving priests where the accusations were weak or uncorroborated.

"We have made what we believe is a fair decision on document disclosure based on sound guiding principles and will continue on this course," Vlazny wrote. "We hope that the continuing release of documents in the spirit of healing and reconciliation will bring peace to the lives of those who have been harmed."

To read the documents, go to www.archdiocesedocuments.org/Documents.html

You can reach Ashbel S. (Tony) Green at 503-221-8202 or by e-mail at tonygreen@news.oregonian.com.

Associated Press

PORTLAND, Ore. — A year after the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Portland settled its bankruptcy case for about $50 million, it has released more of its files on priests accused of sex abuse — including some confidential personnel records.

The documents were expected to be released shortly after the settlement. But negotiations over the release stalled, sending the church and lawyers for the victims back to federal bankruptcy court.

An attorney for some of the alleged abuse victims criticized the latest release as piecemeal and said the archdiocese failed to provide any explanation or tie the documents together in a meaningful way for victims or the public.

"This is not the way to do it," said Kelly Clark. "This is how you do it if you want to frustrate that purpose."

Clark also said that releasing the documents out of context makes it look like the church did not find out about the alleged abuse in many cases until much later than it actually received complaints.

Mediation sessions on the release have been continuing before both sides were scheduled to head to U.S. District Judge Michael Hogan to ask for a decision. Hogan was one of two judges who mediated the settlement.

U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Elizabeth Perris sealed most of the documents after the archdiocese became the first Catholic diocese in the nation to file for bankruptcy protection in July 2004.

She has scheduled hearings for arguments on lifting her order but is not expected to rule until October.

Archbishop John Vlazny says he authorized the release of about 2,000 pages of additional documents on Tuesday as "part of the healing process and in the interest of transparency."