Former Bronx priest sues Catholic Church to clear his name after sexual abuse allegation droppped

Sworn to secrecy, to protect the guilty and to vilify the innocent. Really Nice!

I'm glad to hear Msgr. Kavanaugh is fighting back. Cardinal Egan was probably the worst Archbishop the Archdiosese of NY ever had. He was hated the the clergy as a whole and went after and destroyed a lot of good priests careers without getting all the facts etc.... if you look at it he made it his mission to go after anyone in the clergy who was close to Cardinal O'Connor who sent then Bishop Egan packing! Cadinal Dolan was/is was welcomed leader who knows compassion! I hope Msgr Kavanagh wins a his law suits and is reinsteated as a priest. Also in the artical you said "Kavanaugh's lawsuit is seeking damages against the archdiocese and Monsignor Zwilling, as well as the Catholic New York publication and its editor, which published Zwilling’s comments" Joe Zwilling is not a priest!!

I wish Father Charles Kavanagh the best! This is what often happens when accusations come out of the distant past. They prove to be unsubstantiated, and sometimes, as in this case, totally false! This priest should not be confused with Father James Kavanagh, whose book, "A Modern Priest Looks at his Outdated Church", came out in 1967. I particularly liked the chapter entitled, "The Rules of Courtship". It made a justified mockery of the Church's puritanical views on human sexuality.

What century are we in? This sounds like the Salem witch trials. I sincerely hope that Fr. Kavanagh wins justice and a settlement from the Archdiocese, and, if it is truly what he wants, reinstatement. Mr. Zwilling has little credibility, as far as I'm concerned.

I think your headline is misleading. He hasn't exactly been vindicated yet; hopefully he will be if he didn't do what he is accused of but that will take a while.

Too many unanswered questions in this story. Why would church officials of the Archdiocese of New York reveal-- or lie about-- the verdict in a SECRET trial under canon law? If they violated their secrecy oaths, why are THEY still in their church jobs? Is that because they didn't reveal the truth but lied instead, so their jobs are safe? Kavanaugh was never convicted of sex crimes or misdemeanors in a public civil court. He was defrocked and in effect "fired" as a result of a church trial with secret proceedings. The Church should maybe rethink the whole idea of "secret" trials that can end in public defamation!

The Lawyers are only interested in going after the deep pockets. What is the punishment for the false accuser who is the real culprit who stole this man's life? Where is the example for individuals who think that they can make a buck by making false allegations? Meanwhile, it's enemies never miss an opportunity to bash the church. As guilty as they have been in their past for covering up, it seems that now they are damned if they do and damned if they don't. It is the parishiners who ultimately pay.

In a church system that shuffled pedophiles with multiple accusations against them around like so many cards in a deck, they singled out this priest? But at least he's suing them as Jesus would have done.

You GO Fr Kavanaugh!!!!! I do hope you win big for all you have been through..

I hope that Father Kavanaugh wins, and wins BIG. Let the Church cash in some of the gold they have hoarded in the Vatican. So many have gotten away with this crime with little or no justice, yet an innocent man was hung out to dry. I have to say this...when I was in Ireland, I had to stop visiting churches, particularly those in large cities or towns, because of the opulence. I couldn't help but wonder how many of the poor could have been fed with the money used to paint frescos, supply high-quality altar, purchase and install the marble walls and columns, buy accoutrements, etc. It just made me sad. Of course, the same thing applies here in the US. Somehow, it just doesn't seem right.

A sad side-bar to this story is I can give you "name, rank and serial number" of many priests who were found guilty but innocent. One of the serious injustices from the fallout of the story is that bishops, and their staff, their lawyers and the media and the accusers and their lawyers (who made lots of cash from this story over the years) trampled over the civil rights, human rights, and reputations in Church law as well. Because they were hounded, had no spine, could care less, afraid of publicity, covered their career ambitions? Ask them. Eventually they will answer to Jesus, a more fearful thought than the New York Times or any prosecutor this side of the Great Divide.

Isn't money the root of all evil. Sometimes I have wondered just how many allegations are true. Granted many are but how many lives were destroyed by lies? You can never take words back.