Here’s some remarkable coverage of a story that we don’t hear often enough: a priest accused of sex abuse has been cleared:

Christmas came two days early this week for parishioners of Our Lady of the Rosary Church when their beloved priest, Father Al Gondek, was allowed to return to the parish cleared of allegations that he sexually abused a boy at a summer camp in 1960.

“We never had any questions (about his innocence),” said Kris Joss, a member of the parish council. “It was never if he comes back, it was when.”

For Gondek, it has been the most trying time of his life, he said, while sitting with several members of the council Wednesday afternoon in the parish center. A testament to forgiveness, he and his parishioners said they hold no ill will against the accuser and instead pray for him. Gondek said he would always be thankful for the outpouring of support from not only his parish members, but also the entire Davidson County community.

“It’s overwhelming,” he said of the support.

Gondek was placed on administrative leave Oct. 12 by the Diocese of Charlotte after 59-year-old Michael Sowden of Wilmington, Del., said Gondek fondled him while swimming when he was a boy at a summer camp in Maryland.

Gondek’s 300-member congregation stood solidly behind him during the ordeal, defending his reputation as a righteous man who could never be guilty of such an act.

The allegations were investigated by his religious order, the Oblates of St. Francis DeSales, and an inquiry was conducted by the Review Board of the Diocese of Charlotte. The Oblates contracted with Chief Judge Joseph H.H. Kaplan of Baltimore, Md., to conduct the investigation. Kaplan has no connection to the church, the diocese or the Roman Catholic Church.

Sowden’s attorney alleged in a news release in October that Sowden was fondled by Gondek while swimming at the camp in 1960. The investigation showed, however, that the camp did not open until 1961 and Gondek was not assigned there until 1962. Furthermore, the retired judge’s investigation and an independent polygraph of Gondek showed the priest does not know how to swim.

Read the rest. It’s astonishing.

H/T to The Anchoress, who found it over at Inside Catholic.

Photo: by Donnie Roberts, Davidson County Dispatch