November 16, 2007

Diocese to investigate local Seeds of Hope prayer group

By Terence Hegarty, Catholic Observer

SPRINGFIELD Responding to the concerns that a local prayer group known as The Seeds of Hope is harmful to Catholics, Springfield Bishop Timothy A. McDonnell has launched an investigation into the group's activities, the diocese announced Nov. 14.

"In light of questions and concerns raised about the Seeds of Hope group, led by Neil Harrington Jr., Bishop McDonnell has appointed the former judicial vicar for the diocese and a member of the chancellor's office to investigate this matter and report back to him," said Mark E. Dupont, diocesan spokesman.

The matter involves a weekly prayer cenacle and activities surrounding it in which Neil Harrington Jr., a Springfield resident and leader of the group, claims to have received messages from the Blessed Virgin Mary and St. Francis of Assisi. Harrington claims that Mary appeared to him and related messages to him in his parents' Enfield, Conn., home from 1991 until 1997.

Harrington distributed these messages for more than a decade in the Archdiocese of Hartford, Conn., and in the Diocese of Springfield. In 1995, Harrington was told by the archdiocese not to distribute messages, but there have been indications that Seeds of Hope continues to distribute materials.

The Diocese of Springfield's formal inquiries will not be the first investigation of the group.

Father Vittorio Guerrera was part of a four-member commission from the Archdiocese of Hartford that
investigated Harrington's claims beginning in 1995.

The investigation of the archdiocese was launched, in part, in response to media reports on the claimed supernatural events in Enfield.

Two months ago, the Seeds of Hope was again in the media spotlight when it was reported that a priest who had been forbidden to act as a priest since 1988 due to credible sexual abuse allegations, had been celebrating sacraments at Harrington's Springfield home.

In late September, Bishop McDonnell received evidence that Father John J. Szantyr, a priest of the Diocese of Worcester, Mass., who is facing criminal charges of molestation in Worcester District Court, had been celebrating Mass in Harrington's Springfield home.

Bishop McDonnell immediately sent a letter to both Father Szantyr and Harrington letting each know that this cannot continue and that Father Szantyr is forbidden to "undertake any sacramental functions."

Harrington subsequently called the bishop's office and said that he would abide by the bishop's wishes. Father Szantyr also responded and assured Bishop McDonnell that he would not celebrate sacraments in the diocese and that he was abiding by the Dallas Norms restrictions.

This diocesan inquiry will be focused on Seeds of Hope. Critics who spoke to the Observer contend that things that have gone on there, and that are presently continuing, conflict with church teaching.

Critics and former Seeds of Hope members have recently come forward expressing grave concerns that materials distributed by Harrington and the Seeds of Hope are fundamentally flawed regarding several aspects of the Catholic faith.

"The bishop takes quite seriously his role in giving clear guidance to the local Catholic community with regard to authentic church teaching," said Dupont. "He wants to assure the faithful that any group claiming to be in communion with the church abides by its teachings and communicates those accurately."

Harrington was asked by the Archdiocese of Hartford in 1995 not to distribute any further supernatural messages before they were examined by the archdiocese, Father Guerrera told the Observer in 2000.

Dupont said the investigation has begun and that Harrington will be invited to meet with the diocesan investigators and that their work would take as long as necessary to get a clear understanding of what has been taking place.