Food for Poor program will continue

BY BILL DOYLE
CFP CORRESPONDENT
 
WORCESTER - Father John Madden, pastor of St. John Parish, issued a statement on Monday of his appreciation that an investigation by the Worcester Diocese cleared him last week of claims of inappropriate conduct with female patrons of the St. John Food for the Poor Program. He also assured the community that the ministry would continue.
“For the past several months,” he said in the statement he emailed to The Catholic Free Press and posted on the parish website, “while being very publicly slandered and libeled, I have remained silent. I knew the truth. I trusted the process as well as the integrity and professionalism of the person charged with investigating the allegations made against me. At this time, I state publicly and unequivocally that the accusations made against me were false.
“Additionally, the independent, professional and exhaustive report clearly confirms that I did not do anything that I was alleged to have done.”
William Riley, director of the food program, was accused of inappropriate conduct with female patrons and Father Madden was accused of being “aware of or complicit in the alleged conduct of Mr. Riley,” that he was “engaged in inappropriate conduct with female residents of Harrington House,” that he inappropriately engaged in witness manipulation by paying money for the benefit of an individual who could be involved in this investigation and that he paid for her stay at a Southbridge residential program to gain her favor.”
 
“As a human being,” Father Madden said in the statement, “I am at least as flawed as any other person. Additionally, I am a Catholic Christian. As such, I will harbor no ill will against those who accused me, nor towards those who perpetuated the false accusations, including those who did so by seeking to deny me due process.
“Life is hard. We have work to do in caring for and helping one another. There is no room or time for hate.”
Father Madden said the St. John’s Food for the Poor Program at St. Francis Xavier Center will remain open despite the resignation on July 13 of Mr. Riley as director.
“Now that the investigation has been completed,” Father Madden said, “our Food for the Poor’s St. Francis Xavier Center, both through its weekday meal and Saturday food pantry, will continue to provide a safe and welcoming place for all people. We do so with faith in the power of God’s mercy and love, the power which provides generously for our sisters and brothers in need, and for all of us. We invite all those who are seeking physical and spiritual nourishment, whether as a guest, a volunteer or a donor, to reject what others might say about us, and to come yourself and continue the journey with us.”
Father Madden said no replacement for Mr. Riley as director has been announced and that he and others would continue to run the program as they have since Mr. Riley was placed on administrative leave four months ago while claims against him were investigated.
“Throughout these months,” Father Madden said in the statement, “we at St. John’s have become more aware that God is living with us here on Temple Street. God has provided us with the grace and strength needed to carry on. And so we have. My deepest gratitude goes to the volunteers at our Food for the Poor ministry. Your work, first during the height of the pandemic and now during this investigation, has been done with understanding, sympathy and love toward all of those who come to us each day. Many of our guests come carrying heavy burdens in life, and some are not always grateful or kind. You make it all work.”