Monsignor Leo J. Battista

March 10, 2006

Vatican decides not to defrock retired Monsignor Battista

By Kathleen A. Shaw TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF

WORCESTER— The Vatican has decided against defrocking Monsignor Leo J. Battista, who surrendered his clinical social worker’s license in 1991 after admitting that he had sexual relations with a client when he was her therapist.

The Vatican recently told Bishop Robert J. McManus that Monsignor Battista is permanently barred from ministry and cannot present himself as a priest, Raymond L. Delisle, diocesan spokesman, said yesterday. Monsignor Battista, 83, is retired and listed in the official diocesan directory as living at Southgate in Shrewsbury. His last parish assignment was pastor of St. Anna parish, Leominster.

“The Holy See, through the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, has reviewed the case of Rev. Monsignor Leo J. Battista, and has recently informed Most Rev. Robert J. McManus, Bishop of Worcester, that Monsignor Battista is to be permanently prohibited from any type of priestly ministry and may not present himself as a priest. He is to spend his remaining days in prayer and penance,” Mr. Delisle said after speaking with the bishop.

Mr. Delisle said the Vatican action did not result in defrocking Monsignor Battista.

Retired Bishop Daniel P. Reilly testified in an April 2004 deposition, when he was still bishop in Worcester, that the diocese was seeking laicization — defrocking — of Monsignor Battista and that he started the process at the request of one of the monsignor’s alleged victims.

Monsignor Battista, who was a licensed social worker and former head of Catholic Charities for the diocese, signed a three-page consent agreement with the state Board of Registration of Social Workers in 1991 and admitted that he had an improper sexual relationship with a client.

A former Sister of St. Joseph, Nancy Norbert, filed a civil suit against the diocese stating she had been sexually assaulted by the monsignor during the 1970s and 1980s when she entered a counseling arrangement with him. Donna M. Spencer, a former Sister of Mercy, said in a 1993 interview with the Telegram & Gazette that she also had an improper sexual relationship with Monsignor Battista. She said he had been acting as spiritual adviser and counselor when she was a young nun in the order.

Mr. Delisle said Bishop McManus told him that other laicization cases involving diocesan priests are pending, but he declined to state who they were.

“Cases have been sent to Rome for their review. We cannot speculate on what Rome’s determinations will be or their recommendations on each priest’s clerical state. We are waiting for further direction or notice on each case,” Mr. Delisle said.

A bishop has authority to remove a priest from service but only the Vatican, with approval of the pope, can laicize a priest. Some priests voluntarily seek laicization for various reasons, including a desire to marry. Others are removed involuntarily because of misconduct.

George “Skip” Shea of Uxbridge said this week that he had formally applied to Bishop McManus to begin laicization proceedings against the Rev. Thomas H. Teczar and the Rev. Robert Shauris, whom he said sexually abused him as a teenager. Mr. Shea received $10,000 from the diocese about two years ago to settle his lawsuit alleging sexual abuse by the two men.

An artist, Mr. Shea has a one-man show called “Catholic (Surviving Abuse and Other Dead End Roads)” which he recently presented in New York City and in the Boston area. Mr. Shea, who has said he is generally pleased with the response he has gotten from Bishop McManus when he met with him regarding his alleged abuse, said he contacted the chancery about starting laicization proceedings against the priests, and he was told he needed to make a formal request. He sent the formal request this week to the bishop.

Records of the Telegram & Gazette and records assembled by Waltham-based Bishop Accountability, an organization of Catholics who are archiving the sexual abuse scandal throughout the United States, and a count by Worcester Voice, which tracks clergy sexual abuse in the Worcester Diocese, shows a total of 23 living diocesan priests who are retired or on administrative leave after being publicly accused of sexual misconduct. That count does not include accused priests who are members of religious orders.

Two of the 23 priests, the Rev. David A. Holley and the Rev. Robert E. Kelley, are in prison after being convicted of sexual abuse of minors.

The Rev. Joseph A. Coonan has not resigned his position as pastor of St. John Church, Worcester, but is on administrative leave from the diocese after several men alleged misconduct when he was teaching and counseling in Oxford. Last week, he was charged with assaulting his elderly mother and his sister at their home in Oxford, and he was arraigned in Dudley District Court.

Diocesan priests are eligible to receive financial help from the diocese as required under the church’s canon law. The diocese does not have to support or subsidize priests who are laicized and are no longer priests.

The diocese said in a 2003 report to the American bishops’ National Review Board that it knew of 45 priests who were the subject of credible allegations of sexual misconduct from 1950 to 2003.

Mr. Delisle said the diocese has declined to say how much money the accused priests are receiving, but he said the amount is “in part” recorded as a lump sum in the diocesan financial report under the priests financial assistance fund.

Under that fund, the diocese paid $340,562 in fiscal 2005; $349,457 in fiscal 2004; and $270,000 in fiscal 2003. Mr. Delisle said some of this money also would go to priests on leave for reasons other than misconduct. Priests placed on leave can receive medical insurance through the diocese. In the 2004 deposition, Bishop Reilly testified that Rev. Teczar was receiving $554 a month from the diocese, along with medical insurance.

“The situation for each priest on leave is evaluated in light of our canonical responsibility to not abandon them. Each case is dependent upon its needs and in keeping with those canonical responsibilities,” Mr. Delisle said.

No priests in the Worcester Diocese accused of sexual misconduct have been laicized. While laicization is the term used in the Catholic church, it means the same as defrocking.

Bishop Michael J. Cote of the Norwich, Conn., Diocese confirmed this week that he received word that Pope Benedict XVI had laicized Bernard W. Bissonette, who allegedly abused the late Thomas Deary when he was assigned to St. Mary parish in Putnam. The defrocking of Mr. Bissonette, who was last known to be living in New Mexico, was done by request of Gene Michael Deary, brother of Mr. Deary, and his family. Bishop Cote made the presentation personally to the Vatican on why Mr. Bissonette should be laicized.

February 9, 1993

FORMER NUN SUES BATTISTA, BISHOP \ COURT RULING RELEASES DOCUMENTS

Author: George B. Griffin; Worcester Telegram & (MA),Staff Reporter

WORCESTER - A former nun has sued the Roman Catholic bishop of Worcester and Monsignor Leo J. Battista, claiming Battista sexually assaulted and abused her while she was undergoing psychotherapy as his client.

The lawsuit was filed last July in Worcester Superior Court by Nancy Norbert of Worcester. Some documents in the case were released yesterday after the state Appeals Court ruled late Friday they should be public.he Appeals Court order resulted from a lawsuit by the Telegram & Gazette challenging the impoundment.

Norbert's suit alleges Battista used his influence and authority as her psychotherapist, as well as alcohol, to induce her to have sexual relations with him during her psychotherapy sessions and at other times. The psychotherapy sessions began in 1972.

ALLEGATIONS DENIED

Battista, in his answer to the lawsuit, denied Norbert's allegations. "Any harm suffered by the plaintiff was as (the) result of her own actions and negligence," he said.

His answer calls Norbert's claims "frivolous and unsubstantial."

Battista, former director of Catholic Charities, a diocesan human service agency, became pastor of St. Anna's Parish in Leominster in 1986.

The Telegram & Gazette disclosed on Jan. 20 that Battista permanently forfeited his clinical social worker's license allowing him to practice psychotherapy in 1991. His license was surrendered after he signed a three-page consent agreement with the state Board of Registration of Social Workers in which he admitted engaging in an improper sexual relationship with a female client.

Although the board did not name the client in that case, details of the case are identical to those specified in the lawsuit.
Battista also admitted to the board that his conduct was "sufficient to permit the Board to conclude that he has failed to demonstrate he "will conduct his activities as a social worker in accordance with generally accepted professional standards,' as required by ... Massachusetts General Laws."

Norbert, in her complaint, said she was a Roman Catholic nun in the Order of the Sisters of St. Joseph of the Springfield Diocese when she was referred by her superior to Battista in 1971 for treatment of depression.

She said Battista made improper advances toward her, induced and encouraged her to have sex with him, and sexually abused her. She said Battista "negligently and carelessly" introduced liquor into the therapy sessions, induced her to use it and subsequently caused her to become dependent on alcohol.

She said Battista continued to induce her to engage in sex with him until "sometime in 1983" after she had left counselingThe suit also alleges that in 1977, after reviving her from a drug overdose, Battista induced her to have sexual relations with him. The suit states that Battista then left her alone, "whereupon she slashed her wrists, resulting in her hospitalization for 19 days."

She said Battista's actions caused her great psychological harm and that she was "incapacitated by reason of mental illness" as a direct result of the priest's actions.

She said Battista's actions were "immoral, unethical, oppressive, unscrupulous, and offensive of public policy."
Her complaint also claims the Roman Catholic bishop of Worcester, named only by title, was negligent in allowing Battista to deliver such treatment.

Samuel R. DeSimone, lawyer for Bishop Timothy J. Harrington, in an answer filed with the court, denied all Norbert's allegations concerning the bishop. Harrington was named bishop in 1983, succeeding Bishop Bernard J. Flanagan.
That answer said Norbert's claims were "insubstantial and frivolous" and asked the court to award the bishop "reasonable counsel fees and other costs and expenses" relating to the lawsuit.

The answer also says that if Norbert "underwent the medical and/or therapeutic procedures alleged, she did so after she was fully informed and cognizant of any risks and uncertainties involved in said procedures, and plaintiff Nancy Norbert exercised her informed consent to the performance of said procedures."

Both Battista and Harrington claim in their formal answers that the statute of limitations has run out on Norbert's complaint and it is not timely.

Norbert's is the third lawsuit filed in recent months alleging sexual misconduct by a diocesan priest.

The two other lawsuits involve separate allegations against retired priest Justin Steponaitis, former parish priest at St. Francis of Assisi in Athol, and the Rev. David A. Holley, a diocesan priest assigned between 1962 and 1972 at St. Philip's Church, Grafton, St. Denis Church, East Douglas, St. Mary of the Hills Church, Boylston, and Our Lady of Fatima Church, Worcester.

February 1, 1993

BATTISTA ASKS PARISHIONERS FOR FAITH AND TRUST

Author: Ian Donnis; Worcester Telegram & Gazette (MA),Staff Reporter

LEOMINSTER - Monsignor Leo J. Battista asked in a statement read at Mass yesterday that parishioners of St. Anna's Church maintain their faith and trust in him.

Battista, who recently took leave from his post as the church's pastor, was not at the morning services. He wrote in the statement that he wants to return, and thanked parishioners for the hundreds of telephone calls and letters he has received.

"In the past weeks we have heard some very disheartening news and outrageous allegations ... about something that happened in my life 20 to 22 years ago," Battista, 69, said in a message read by Deacon Gerald A. Guay.

"I have been deeply hurt and painfully broken, and you have been hurt, too. I hope you have trust in me," Guay read from Battista's statement. "I love my priesthood and never wish to give it up. I desire to continue ministering to you."
The Telegram & Gazette reported recently that Battista, former director of Catholic Charities, permanently surrendered his clinical social worker's license in 1991, after admitting that he had sexual relations with a female client in the 1970s.
Battista said in the statement that he was not free to answer questions because of legal advice, but asked parishioners for their prayers.

"Your hundreds of telephone calls, beautiful cards and handwritten letters of support and trust have been a tremendous source of my strength," the message said.

Parishioners listened quietly to the statement during one Mass, and briefly applauded during another, after a parish member at the front of the church began clapping.

Battista, a native of Clinton, first served at St. Anna's from 1951 to 1953, when it was called St. Ann's. He headed Catholic Charities, the diocesan human services agency for the Worcester area, from 1969 to 1986, and returned to St. Anna's that year.

The Rev. John W. Barrett, spokesman for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Worcester, said this week that Battista's leave from St. Anna's was granted at Battista's request. A new pastor will not be assigned to the parish, since Battista may return, Barrett said.

Guay, who declined to comment further, prefaced his reading of the message by crediting Battista for most of his success as deacon and by describing the monsignor as "the greatest boss ... a real friend and confidant."
The parish is facing a "time of testing and pain," Guay said.

Guay said he was "really glad," to comply with Battista's request to read the message, "as difficult as I find it to do."
Barrett declined yesterday to comment on Battista's message. Barrett said he thinks Bishop Timothy J. Harrington met last weekend with the parish council of St. Anna's, but he declined to elaborate

January 23, 1993

ANOTHER EX-NUN COMES FORWARD \ SHE SAYS SHE HAD SEX WITH BATTISTA

Author: Kathleen A. Shaw; Worcester Telegram & Gazette (MA),Staff Reporter

A former nun who worked for Catholic Charities said yesterday that she had a sexual relationship with Monsignor Leo J. Battista during the time he was head of the diocesan human services agency.

Donna M. Spencer, now a psychotherapist in the Midwest, told the Telegram & Gazette she had come forward in support of a former member of the Sisters of St. Joseph whose disclosure of a sexual relationship with Battista led to the surrender of his license to practice social work.

Spencer said Battista was her teacher of theology and psychology and spiritual adviser in the 1960s when she was known as Sister Trinity, at the convent of the Sisters of Mercy, then on High Street in Worcester. She said Battista hired her as a Catholic Charities social worker the day after she left religious life in March 1968.
1968 to 1970

Sexual relations with the monsignor began in August of that year, she said, and continued regularly until she left to begin graduate studies in September 1970.

She had intermittent relations with Battista after moving away, she said.

Battista headed Catholic Charities, which is run by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Worcester, from 1969 until 1986. He is now pastor of St. Anna's parish in Leominster.

Spencer said her case differed from that of the unidentified nun who complained to the state registration board that Battista initiated a sexual relationship when she was in therapy with him.

NO COMPLAINT FILED

Spencer said that in her own case, "a therapy relationship was not defined explicitly." She did not file a complaint with the state Board of Registration of Social Workers, she said, and she believes she has resolved issues related to the relationship with Battista.

Battista did not return a telephone message left by a reporter last night at St. Anna's rectory.
"I don't think that he will be calling you back," said the woman who answered the telephone.
Michael P. Angelini, Battista's lawyer, also did not return a message left on his answering machine last night.

GAVE UP LICENSE

Battista signed a consent agreement in August 1991 admitting that he had engaged in inappropriate sexual relations with the unidentified woman. He voluntarily and permanently surrendered his social worker's license and the board agreed not to bring further action administratively or in court.

The unidentified former nun's complaint was the only one filed against Battista with the board, according to Jerry DiChristoforo of the board's investigative unit.

Monsignor Edmond T. Tinsley, diocesan vicar general, has said Bishop Timothy J. Harrington would address the situation involving Battista. He refused yesterday to elaborate on that statement.

SAME RESPONSE

"Our response relative to Monsignor Battista is the same," Tinsley said. "Bishop Harrington is addressing that. We wouldn't have any comment other than the comment I made."

Meanwhile, Boston lawyer Martin Aronson said he is representing a former nun who has filed a suit alleging she was "taken advantage of" by a priest who was also a licensed social worker. He would not identify the priest.

Aronson said his client requested that all court documents on the suit be impounded, which means names of the plaintiffs or the defendants cannot be made public.

James G. Reardon, lawyer for the diocese, said he had not been made aware of any civil lawsuit that might have been filed against the diocese in connection with such a matter.

January 22, 1993

Ex-nun: Counselor priest had sex with me

Author: RALPH RANALLI ,Boston Herald (MA)

A former nun has filed a civil suit against a priest, charging that he had a sexual relationship with her while serving as her psychotherapist, a Boston attorney said yesterday. Attorney Martin Aronson said his client has also named a "religious entity" as a client in the case.

Because the court papers have been impounded at his client's request, Aronson said he could not reveal the names of the defendants or comment on the case.

But sources said Aronson's client charged that she had a six-year sexual relationship during the 1970s with Monsignor Leo Battista - who, as of yesterday, remained pastor of St. Anna's Church in Leominster.

The charges included an allegation that Battista asked her to have sex with him after she tried to commit suicide in 1977, taking a bottle of the prescription drug Percodan with alcohol but then throwing it up.

According to state records, the woman said she was able to bring her complaint to the state Division of Registration in October 1990 only after years of counseling.

Battista was a licensed social worker until 1991, when he voluntarily turned in his license and admitted he was "at fault," although he did not "totally agree with her lengthy factual presentation and complaint."

Battista did not return telephone calls yesterday, but a woman answering the telephone at St. Anna's said he remained the pastor there.

Diocese of Worcester officials said they had no comment on the charges against Battista, or on why he had been allowed to remain in his post as pastor.

A spokesman, the Rev. John Barrett, said Bishop Timothy Harrington would address the issue at a future date, but declined to be specific.

January 21, 1993

PRIEST, AS THERAPIST, ADMITS SEX WITH NUN

Author: Brian McGrory, Globe Staff

A Leominster priest who was the former director of the area's Catholic Charities surrendered his state social workers license in 1991 after admitting he had a sexual relationship with a nun who had gone to him for help.

Among other indiscretions, Monsignor Leo Battista, the pastor of St. Anna's parish, was accused by the nun of having sex with her hours after she attempted suicide by swallowing a bottle of Percodan and washing it down with liquor in 1977.
The nun, who left religious life during the relationship, filed a complaint with the state Board of Registration of Social Workers in Boston in 1990, saying the sexual relationship began at a therapy session in 1972. It lasted until at least 1977, she said.

Though Msgr. Battista continues his work as a pastor, ranking members of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Worcester became aware of some "difficulty" when he surrendered his state license in 1991, according to the diocese's lawyer.
"I can only say that the diocese was aware of difficulty involving Monsignor Battista at the time he resigned his social worker's license," said James Reardon, the attorney. "At this time, we would have no further comment pending consultation with his own attorney."

dded Reardon: "We regret the allegations of harm and difficulty that have resulted."

Msgr. Battista did not return telephone calls placed to his rectory yesterday. Father John W. Barrett, the diocesan spokesman, said, "It is a concern which Bishop [Timothy J.] Harrington will address, but we have no further comment at this time."

The former nun's allegations surfaced publicly for the first time yesterday in the Telegram & Gazette of Worcester.
James R. Anliot, counsel for the registration board, told the monsignor in a letter dated Aug. 5, 1991, that in voluntarily giving up his license he was being required to admit that "you engaged in an inappropriate, intimate relationship with her while you were providing therapeutic services to her in what she understood to be your capacity as a social worker."
In the formal agreement, signed Aug. 19, Battista admitted that he had a sexual relationship with the woman.
But for the Catholic church in Worcester, the latest allegations have added to a growing problem of sex in the priesthood. Five other priests have been accused of sexually assaulting boys, or, in the case of one former Barre pastor, soliciting a child to pose nude for photographs, while serving in the Worcester area.

Msgr. Battista voluntarily surrendered his social worker license on Oct. 22, 1990, shortly after receiving a letter from state investigators and a copy of the complaint of the former nun, whose name was deleted from public records.

The nun, in a three-page complaint, said she was seeking help for her depression in 1971 when she was referred to Msgr. Battista. By March 1972, they began having sex regularly during psychotherapy sessions, she said. By August, ashamed, she said she switched therapists, but continued her sexual relationship with Msgr. Battista, who would regularly come to her apartment.

Obsessed with suicide, the former nun swallowed Percodans and liquor on Oct. 1, 1977, and amidst the drug-induced stupor, was visited by Msgr. Battista in her Weymouth apartment, she stated in the complaint.

"He walked me around the apartment, I do not recall for how long," she wrote. "However, when it appeared, at least to him, that I was out of danger, he asked if he could have sex with me. Obviously, in my condition, I consented.
"The next morning, I awoke overwhelmed with anxiety and depression. I wanted to die. I slashed my wrists with a razor blade."

She survived the attempted suicide and was admitted as a psychiatric patient at St. Elizabeth's Hospital in Brighton, where she remained for 19 days, she said.

January 21, 1993

BISHOP TO ACT ON BATTISTA CASE \ LAWYER ALLEGES SENSATIONALISM

Author: George B. Griffin; Worcester Telegram & Gazette (MA),Staff Reporter

Bishop Timothy J. Harrington will address the disclosure of a sexual relationship between a nun and a priest who was her therapist, but a spokesman for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Worcester yesterday declined to discuss what action might be taken.

Harrington will resolve the matter involving Monsignor Leo J. Battista, said Monsignor Edmond T. Tinsley, diocesan vicar general.

"The only statement is that what he read in the newspaper is a concern and he will address it, resolve it," Tinsley said.
Tinsley was referring to a Telegram & Gazette story about documents on file with the state Board of Registration of Social Workers that show Battista permanently surrendered his clinical social worker's license in 1991, after admitting he had a sexual relationship with the unnamed woman.

LEOMINSTER PASTOR

Tinsley said the diocese had not previously known of the allegations against Battista, which the documents say resulted from a relationship that occurred in the 1970s.

Battista is former director of Catholic Charities, a diocesan human services agency. He left the organization in 1986 to go to St. Anna's parish in Leominster, where he serves as pastor.

Michael P. Angelini, the lawyer who represents Battista, said the monsignor's statement did not admit any wrongdoing. He said Battista merely turned in a clinician's license he had not used for some time, rather than putting his accuser through a public hearing.

"He went back to being a parish priest and an excellent one, and in the context of that he gave up his license to practice rather than choose to put the accuser through some public forum," Angelini said.

"He did this without the advice of counsel, out of a naive sense that this was the most expeditious thing to do at a time when he wasn't doing this social work and at a time when he was acting as a first-rate pastor."

Angelini also accused the newspaper of sensationalization, and said he would not advise Battista to speak with a reporter.
"There is no point in him talking to you for the purpose of you sensationalizing this allegation ... ," Angelini said.

Battista declined to take a telephone call, and a woman who answered the door at St. Anna's rectory said the priest did not want to speak with a reporter. Harrington and the diocesan spokesman, the Rev. John W. Barrett, did not return telephone calls from a reporter. A reporter who visited the chancery was not allowed to see the bishop.

The former nun said in a three-page statement filed in 1990 that her sexual relationship with Battista began in 1972, when the monsignor was her therapist, and lasted until at least 1977. The statement indicates that the woman left religious life in 1974. It says that on Oct. 1, 1977, she tried to kill herself with painkillers and liquor.

RELATIONSHIP OUTLINED

The agreement with the registration board was signed by Battista on Aug. 19, 1991, and accepted by the board three days later. In it, the monsignor admitted having a sexual relationship with the woman and the board agreed not to pursue the matter administratively or in court.

Battista said in the three-page agreement that he counseled the woman from the spring of 1971 to "approximately August 1972."

"Between March 1972 and August 1972, the Licensee engaged in a sexual relationship with (his female client) at the same time that he was providing these psychotherapeutic services," the agreement states.

"The Licensee also engaged in sexual relations with (his female client) on numerous different occasions after the termination of their psychotherapeutic relationship.

"The Licensee further admits that the conduct ... is sufficient to permit the Board to conclude that he has failed to demonstrate that he "will conduct his activities as a social worker in accordance with generally accepted professional standards,' as required by ... Massachusetts General Laws."

The agreement also stated that Battista understood the license surrender was "a final act depriving him of all privileges of registration, including but not limited to the privilege of engaging in the practice of social work and the privilege of representing himself to the public as a social worker. The Licensee further understands that this surrender of his license is not subject to reconsideration or judicial review."

January 20, 1993

PRIEST HAD SEX WITH PATIENT \ MSGR. BATTISTA ADMITS AFFAIR

Author: Kathleen A. Shaw; Worcester Telegram & Gazette (MA),Staff Reporter

CORRECT:The following correction was published Jan 21, 1993: The lawyer for Monsignor Leo J. Battista of St. Anna's Church in Leominster is Michael P. Angelini of Worcester. Angelini was misidentified in yesterday's Telegram & Gazette.
Monsignor Leo J. Battista, pastor of St. Anna's parish in Leominster and former director of Catholic Charities, permanently surrendered his state social worker's license in 1991 after admitting he had a sexual relationship with a nun who had gone to him for psychotherapy.

The Telegram & Gazette learned yesterday that the action came after an investigation by the state Board of Registration of Social Workers in Boston. Battista consented to the surrender in an agreement providing that the board would not take further administrative action or pursue the matter in court.

SEX AND SUICIDE

The woman, identified in documents by her initials, said sexual relations with the monsignor began at a therapy session in 1972 and continued through at least 1977. She said in a three-page statement filed with the registration board in October 1990 that the relationship ended altogether in 1983.

The statement says that at one point, Battista sought to have sex with the woman just after a suicide attempt in which she ingested Percodan and liquor.

"Although I do admit that I was at fault, I do not totally agree with her lengthy factual presentation and complaint," Battista wrote in an Oct. 22, 1990, letter to an investigator for the board. He said that due to ill health, he did not want to pursue the issue further and offered to give up the license.

Battista, 69, declined to discuss the matter last night when approached in Leominster by a reporter. He referred all questions to his lawyer, Gregory J. Angelini, who did not return telephone messages left at his home and office.
Former Bishop Bernard J. Flanagan said he had never heard of the allegations or the state investigation. Flanagan headed the Roman Catholic Diocese of Worcester until 1983. Father John W. Barrett, the diocesan spokesman, also said he was not familiar with the case. Barrett said he would seek a statement from Bishop Timothy J. Harrington, but no statement was issued, and efforts to contact both Barrett and Harrington later last night were unsuccessful.

VIOLATION OF ETHICS

Monsignor Edmond T. Tinsley, diocesan vicar general, said he had known Battista for 30 years and considered him a friend. "It's sad," he said.

Tinsley said he was not aware of the situation and would not discuss the matter further without reading the documents.
Mental health professionals are barred by the ethics of their profession from engaging in sexual relations with clients or patients.

Douglas Fizel, spokesman for the American Psychological Association, said people seeking therapy are troubled and that such a relationship does not help them improve. He added that a client and therapist have an unequal relationship, with the therapist in the power role.

FIRST ENCOUNTER

The registration board documents provide the following account of the relationship between Battista and the woman:
The woman became depressed in spring 1971, when she was a member of the Sisters of St. Joseph of the Springfield Diocese. She was referred to Battista, an independent clinical social worker, by her order's mistress of junior professed.
The woman said she saw Battista for psychotherapy every other week. Sessions at times were conducted in the diocesan chancery building at 49 Elm St., but most often they met in the monsignor's residence in Lancaster.

The woman transferred to Worcester in September of that year, in part to be closer to Battista. During an appointment in March 1972, the woman said, she told the monsignor how much she cared for him.

"To my surprise, he reciprocated with how much he loved me from the first moment he met me in therapy. This was to be the first of many sexual encounters with Monsignor Battista," she said.

The woman said she "continued to see Monsignor Battista under the guise of therapy, but each appointment resulted in sexual intercourse." Her appointments became less frequent, but Battista started calling her. She started meeting him around the corner from the convent "and we would travel to his place in Lancaster," she said.

PRESSING FOR INFORMATION

"Therapy was no longer the purpose of our relationship," she said.
In August 1972, she said, she told Dr. Mary Walsh, a clinical psychologist and member of another religious order, that she was having a sexual relationship with a priest.
"Because of my shame, I was not able to identify his name to her," she said.

Walsh showed concern and suggested that the woman receive psychotherapy. She replied she was in therapy with Battista but "felt it was not doing me any good." Walsh said she would see the woman for therapy, where she continued to ask her to name the priest. The woman said that when she finally named Battista, Walsh at first did not believe her.
The woman left religious life in April 1974 and moved to other parts of the state. She said she began drinking too much and was seriously considering suicide. Battista continued to contact her regularly and they continued to have sexual relations, mostly in her apartment, she said.

SUICIDE ATTEMPTS

On Oct. 1, 1977, she said, she swallowed a bottle of Percodan, a narcotic painkiller, and washed the tablets down with liquor. She passed out and was "half awakened" by the ringing telephone.

"It was Monsignor Battista and he wanted to come down to my apartment. He would later tell me that I kept blacking out during our conversation," she said. She later vomited, which she believes saved her life.

"Monsignor arrived at my apartment some time later. Alarmed at my condition, he proceeded to call a physician friend in Worcester for advice on what to do," she said.

Battista told her he was advised to keep her awake until she appeared to be out of danger. He walked her around the apartment, she said. When it appeared to him that she was out of danger "he asked if he could have sex with me." She said that because of her condition she consented.

She said she was "overwhelmed with anxiety and depression" the following day, and called Walsh.
"I wanted to die. I slashed my wrists with a razor blade," she said. Walsh called police, and the woman was admitted to St. Elizabeth's Hospital in Boston as a psychiatric patient for 19 days before being discharged in Walsh's care.
After the woman returned home, Battista came to her apartment unexpectedly and asked why he had not heard from her, she said.

1990 COMPLAINT

"After I explained, he commented he wondered what had happened to me. He then wanted to have sex. I said no and asked him to leave and indicated to him that our relationship was over," she said.

She continued in therapy with Walsh and in 1982 was referred to Dr. Sidney Smith, a licensed psychologist in Worcester, with whom she said she continued therapy for seven years, dealing with the themes of victimization, loss and abandonment.

Smith did not return a telephone message left at his office. Efforts to locate a telephone listing for Walsh were unsuccessful.

The woman said she made the complaint to the board in 1990 because she felt "secure enough and strong enough."
James R. Anliot, counsel for the registration board, told the monsignor in a letter dated Aug. 5, 1991, that in voluntarily giving up his license he was being required to admit that "you engaged in an inappropriate, intimate relationship with her while you were providing therapeutic services to her in what she understood to be your capacity as a social worker."
In the formal agreement, signed Aug. 19 and accepted by the board three days later, Battista admits that he had a sexual relationship with the woman.

Battista, a native of Clinton, was ordained to the priesthood in 1948. He was elevated to monsignor by Pope Paul VI in 1966.

Battista served at St. Thomas-a-Becket Church, in South Barre, until 1951; St. Ann's Church, now called St. Anna's, in Leominster, from 1951 to 1953; and St. Mary's Church, in Southbridge, from 1953 to 1955. He went to work for Catholic Charities, a diocesan human services organization, in 1955 and was named director in 1969. He left Catholic Charities and returned to St. Anna's in 1986.

Staff Reporter Ian Donnis contributed to this story.
5 priests face allegations

Current cases involving area priests or former area priests:

A lawsuit filed by Michael A. Lavigne, alleging he was sexually assaulted by the Rev. Justin Steponaitis between 1971 and 1976 when Lavigne was an altar boy at St. Francis of Assisi Church in Athol. Steponaitis has denied the allegations.

Allegations by Robert A. Malo that he was assaulted and raped in 1978 by the Rev. Victor A. Frobas, who was a visiting priest at St. Rose of Lima Church in Northboro. The allegations are being investigated by District Attorney John J. Conte.

A civil suit in New Mexico filed by 10 plaintiffs who allege they were molested between 1973 and 1974 by the Rev. David A. Holley, a Worcester Diocese priest who was under treatment for pedophilia in Albuquerque.

An indictment against the Rev. Ronald D. Provost, former pastor of St. Joseph's Church in Barre, charging him with soliciting a child in September to pose nude for photographs. A trial is scheduled for Jan. 28.

Indictments against the Rev. Joseph A. Fredette, charging him with sexually assaulting two teen-age boys in the 1970s while they were in his care at a Worcester halfway house. Fredette fled to Canada.

January 30, 1993

BATTISTA TAKES LEAVE \ PRIESTS WILL FILL IN ON TEMPORARY BASIS

Author: Kathleen A. Shaw; Worcester Telegram & Gazette (MA),Staff Reporter

Monsignor Leo J. Battista has taken leave from his post as pastor of St. Anna's Church in Leominster. The Rev. John W. Barrett, spokesman for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Worcester, said a priest will be sent to say Mass at the church this weekend, but he did not know who it would be. He said the diocese has priests who fill in as needed.

NO NEW PASTOR

Battista is the only cleric assigned to the parish, according to the official diocesan directory.
The leave was granted at Battista's request and no new pastor will be assigned, since he may return, Barrett said.
The Telegram & Gazette reported recently that Battista permanently surrendered his independent clinical social worker's license in 1991, after admitting that he had sexual relations with a female client in the 1970s. The client, who has not been named, filed a complaint with the state Board of Registration of Social Workers.

LEAVE ANNOUNCED

Battista's leave was announced in this week's issue of The Catholic Free Press, the official diocesan newspaper, and was described as temporary.

Battista, former executive director of Catholic Charities, became pastor at St. Anna's in 1986, after leaving the diocesan human services organization.