by Fr. Gordon J. MacRae on September 14, 2011 · 17 comments
. . . So I was not at all surprised when prisoners came one after another to my cell door during “Court TV’s” coverage of the Father Geoghan trial. After some incredible testimony from the accuser, they showed up during commercials to ask, “Are you watching this?” I was watching it, and I heard what they heard. The twenty-something-year-old accuser testified that a dozen years earlier, when he was eleven, he was in a public swimming pool. He said that he recognized Father John Geoghan as someone who had visited his housing project. While trying to climb out of the pool, the young man testified, Father Geoghan came up behind him and, under the guise of helping him to climb out, squeezed his buttocks. Based upon this testimony, the 68-year old priest was convicted of sexual assault and sentenced to nine years in prison. It was a death sentence. . . . Am I defending Father John Geoghan? Not at all. Do I doubt that this accuser told the truth? Not at all. The behavior ascribed to Father Geoghan was consistent with what scores of others said of him, and an egregious example of how much his own reasoning and judgement skills had deteriorated. The Church had a responsibility to protect young people from John Geoghan and a responsibility to protect Father Geoghan from himself. Church officials failed on both counts. I don’t question the truth of any of it. . . .
by Fr. Gordon J. MacRae on August 26, 2011 · 15 comments
. . . Editor’s Note: You may be interested to watch Dr. Bill Donohue of the Catholic League discuss Father Gordon MacRae and These Stone Walls on the most recent The World Over with Raymond Arroyo on EWTN. Click through post to watch . . .
by Fr. Gordon J. MacRae on September 15, 2010 · 10 comments
. . . I have never written of any of this before now. Those months
awaiting trial became so stressful and depressing that I began
to give up. I stopped accepting treatment for epilepsy, and
ended up hospitalized at Albuquerque Presbyterian Hospital for
a week. After a traumatic night, my good friend and co-worker
Father Clyde Landry, came to see me. He brought from my room
at the center a portable short wave radio to listen to.
Later that night, I plugged in my earpiece and turned on the
radio. It was close to midnight, and I was not even aware it
was the Feast of the Visitation, May 31. I also didn’t know my
radio was on the short-wave band. Father Clyde must have moved
the band by accident. I raised the antennae and played with
the tuner, then stopped. I had stumbled upon EWTN’s short
wave broadcast from Birmingham, Alabama. As I lay there in the dark in that hospital room, I heard the
Salve Regina intoned and chanted in my ear. . . .
by Fr. Gordon J. MacRae on November 11, 2009 · 25 comments
. . . Then, suddenly, EWTN was gone. Early in 2008, EWTN converted to a digital signal ahead of the national transition that was to take place. To the dismay of many Catholic prisoners, EWTN was lost to us. The local cable company promised to restore it after the national transition to digital television, but that has not happened. EWTN is no longer available in the prison, and is deeply missed. I am approached daily by Catholic prisoners asking how we can restore EWTN. Without EWTN for daily Mass, I was stranded again. A friend challenged me to do all I can to regain the ability to celebrate the Eucharist. I wrote for an appointment with the current prison chaplain who told me he would approach prison officials for approval to have Mass supplies if our bishop also approved it. . . .
