Photo: Quincy mayor Tom Koch with family; via City of Quincy website.
Clergy abuse survivors and advocates gathered outside Quincy City Hall on Friday to protest comments made earlier in the week by Mayor Tom Koch regarding the Catholic Church’s clergy abuse scandal, CBS News Boston reported.
The demonstration featured photos and stories of children who had been sexually abused by priests. Among the survivors was Francis Michael Sullivan, who said he was abused 50 years ago. “This stuff’s been going on for years, it happened to me 50 years ago. Very nervous, sick to my stomach. It just brings back a ton of memories I don’t want to relive,” Sullivan said.
The controversy began when Koch appeared on WBZ’s Nightside with Dan Rea to discuss legal disputes surrounding two statues of Catholic saints planned for a Quincy public safety building. During the interview, Koch shifted the discussion to clergy abuse and said, “It was mostly homosexual issues, not pedophilia.” He also claimed that abuse was statistically more common among teachers and coaches than within the Catholic Church.
Following criticism, Koch apologized at a Quincy School Committee meeting, but he also restated his earlier claims. “My point was to remind him that 4% of it was pedophilia, I didn’t have the facts in front of me but I went back and refreshed before tonight and 80% was same-sex attraction post-puberty,” Koch said. “I never meant to disparage anybody.” He repeated his apology the following day in an interview with WBZ-TV.
Survivors and advocates said the apology was not enough. They called on Koch to meet directly with victims to better understand the realities of clergy abuse. “We want Mayor Koch to fess up. We want him to meet with victims and let them educate him as to what pedophilia is because homosexuals do not abuse children, pedophiles do,” said Dr. Robert Hoatson, co-founder of Road to Recovery, a nonprofit that works with sexual abuse survivors. He warned that Koch’s comments risk reinforcing stigma and silencing survivors. “He has to atone for this in some way, not only to the [LGBTQ+] community but to survivors of sexual abuse who now may go into the shadows because he’s, in a sense, put them there again.”
Sullivan, who shared his own experience, said simply, “It’s a pedophile that abused me. It’s not a homosexual.”
Advocates emphasized that words from public officials carry weight, and survivors need acknowledgment and support rather than comments that minimize or misrepresent their trauma.|
Attention: Survivors of Clergy Abuse
If you are a survivor of clergy abuse, you are not alone. Legal options may be available to you, even when institutions resist accountability. Learn more with our Catholic Church Sexual Abuse Lawsuit Guide.
You can also see if you qualify for possible compensation with a free case review. Fill out the confidential, secure form below.
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Survivors Urge Quincy (MA) Mayor to Do More After Controversial Clergy Abuse Comments
Photo: Quincy mayor Tom Koch with family; via City of Quincy website.
Clergy abuse survivors and advocates gathered outside Quincy City Hall on Friday to protest comments made earlier in the week by Mayor Tom Koch regarding the Catholic Church’s clergy abuse scandal, CBS News Boston reported.
The demonstration featured photos and stories of children who had been sexually abused by priests. Among the survivors was Francis Michael Sullivan, who said he was abused 50 years ago. “This stuff’s been going on for years, it happened to me 50 years ago. Very nervous, sick to my stomach. It just brings back a ton of memories I don’t want to relive,” Sullivan said.
The controversy began when Koch appeared on WBZ’s Nightside with Dan Rea to discuss legal disputes surrounding two statues of Catholic saints planned for a Quincy public safety building. During the interview, Koch shifted the discussion to clergy abuse and said, “It was mostly homosexual issues, not pedophilia.” He also claimed that abuse was statistically more common among teachers and coaches than within the Catholic Church.
Following criticism, Koch apologized at a Quincy School Committee meeting, but he also restated his earlier claims. “My point was to remind him that 4% of it was pedophilia, I didn’t have the facts in front of me but I went back and refreshed before tonight and 80% was same-sex attraction post-puberty,” Koch said. “I never meant to disparage anybody.” He repeated his apology the following day in an interview with WBZ-TV.
Survivors and advocates said the apology was not enough. They called on Koch to meet directly with victims to better understand the realities of clergy abuse. “We want Mayor Koch to fess up. We want him to meet with victims and let them educate him as to what pedophilia is because homosexuals do not abuse children, pedophiles do,” said Dr. Robert Hoatson, co-founder of Road to Recovery, a nonprofit that works with sexual abuse survivors. He warned that Koch’s comments risk reinforcing stigma and silencing survivors. “He has to atone for this in some way, not only to the [LGBTQ+] community but to survivors of sexual abuse who now may go into the shadows because he’s, in a sense, put them there again.”
Sullivan, who shared his own experience, said simply, “It’s a pedophile that abused me. It’s not a homosexual.”
Advocates emphasized that words from public officials carry weight, and survivors need acknowledgment and support rather than comments that minimize or misrepresent their trauma.|
Attention: Survivors of Clergy Abuse
If you are a survivor of clergy abuse, you are not alone. Legal options may be available to you, even when institutions resist accountability. Learn more with our Catholic Church Sexual Abuse Lawsuit Guide.
You can also see if you qualify for possible compensation with a free case review. Fill out the confidential, secure form below.
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