Springfield bishop dissolves fund giving support to abusive clerics, removes priest critic from presbyteral council

McDonnell said he had spoken to donors and they had agreed that the money should be used to provide scholarships for students in Catholic schools.

The fund was established last fall by Bishop Thomas Dupre, who abruptly announced his retirement as head of the diocese in February amid allegations that he had molested two altar boys while a parish priest in the 1970s. Dupre and his lawyer have declined to comment on the allegations which are now being investigated by a grand jury.

The fund paid the living expenses of priests who were accused of sexual misconduct and removed from their ministerial duties.

One of the sharpest critics of the fund was the Rev. James Scahill. His East Longmeadow parish has been withholding a portion of its weekly collections to protest continued diocesan support for Richard Lavigne, a defrocked priest who was convicted in 1992 of molesting two altar boys.

McDonnell removed Scahill from the 18-priest Presbyteral Council Tuesday after the two exchanged words over Scahill’s public criticism of the new bishop. Scahill said McDonnell was taking too long to decide whether to continue to provide financial aid to Lavigne.

“The Presbyteral Council is meant to be an advisory group to the bishop, not an adversarial one,” McDonnell said in a prepared statement, characterizing Scahill’s public statements as “personal attacks.”