An external investigation will examine both the accusations against former Zahm Hall Rector, Rev. Thomas King, C.S.C., and Notre Dame’s handling of past complaints against the priest.
Introduction
In a terse September 24th statement, the University announced the opening of an investigation by an outside attorney into “allegations that Rev. Thomas King, C.S.C., engaged in sexual misconduct while rector of Zahm Hall, where he served from 1980 to 1997.”
The statement unaccountably did not mention that the investigation will include an examination of “the University’s handling of any past complaints regarding Fr. King,” as the University’s president and board chairman said in a letter accompanying the statement.
In that letter, which initially went to past residents of Zahm Hall, Rev. Robert A. Dowd, C.S.C., and board chair John Veihmeyer announced the creation of a special board committee to oversee the investigation and expressed sadness “that there are members of our community who may have suffered abuse while here and may not have received the support, care, and love they deserve.”
Neither the statement nor the letter says anything about Father King, but several sources report he is in a South Bend nursing home in poor health. He began his career teaching at Notre Dame High School in Niles, Illinois, in 1969. He moved to Notre Dame in 1979 to serve as rector of Zahm Hall and to teach history at Holy Cross College. He left after 17 years to serve as a parish priest in two parishes until retiring in 2020. He appears to be in good standing as a priest.
What Can Be Said
Details are, understandably sparse, but this much can be said:
- The outside counsel, Helen Cantwell, a partner in the prominent New York law firm of Debevoise & Plimpton, has had extensive experience in handling high profile investigations into alleged misconduct by employees of various organizations and institutions.
- While the university has not described the allegations, some charges have been leveled on the Internet. We describe them below as background to the announced investigation, but we emphasize we know nothing and imply nothing about these claims other than that they have been made.
First, there is this Facebook posting from a 1988 graduate who is now on the faculty of Tufts University:
I’m leading a group of Notre Dame guys who were hazed, harassed, raped and assaulted by Zahm Hall rector Father Thomas King, C.S.C. who not only lived in a dorm with hundreds of young men, but also held the keys to the “Rudy Program” for boys who wanted to transfer to ND from Holy Cross where he was a professor for decades. We’ve collected scores of stories and are curious to hear more. DM me with details or a link to the anonymous reporting line.
In another Facebook post, he asserted that Notre Dame “knew about the abuse as early as 1995/96.”
- There are also a number of 2023 posts about Father King by “hailmaryfullofgrease” (HMFG) on the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) website. The first is a spare rape allegation:
I was raped by Father Tom King when I was a freshman at the University of Notre Dame in the early 1990s.
HMFG also describes locker room incidents involving “many victims” in which he surmised Father King employed a ruse to get students to strip while he watched.
- As to the University’s actions, HMFG referred to a 2023 “investigation” by Father Peter Jarrett, who is the Victim Assistance Coordinator for the Order. And HMFG, too, asserted the university was long aware of the charges:
University has known about the abuse since at least 1996. A number of graduating Domers and their fathers went to the authorities on campus and reported King’s inappropriate behavior. Nothing public has come of it.
Notre Dame and Sexual Abuse
An examination of sexual assault incidences and University policies and procedures over the years would take us too far afield, but a few observations might be helpful.
First, the University has not been tarnished by confirmed cases of sexual abuse of minors by clergy since the national sexual abuse scandal broke in 2002.
The Order’s list of “credibly accused” priests does not include any while at Notre Dame, and we cannot find any adjudicated cases involving non-Order priests.
Of course, this doesn’t mean there has been no clerical sexual abuse. Experience teaches that victims often remain silent. And there was Rev. Samuel Peters, C.S.C., who was dismissed from his position as rector and removed from public ministry because of his “inappropriate sexual relationship with an adult woman.” The university “declined to reveal whether the woman involved is a student.”
(One of the victims described his experience in a harrowing 2003 Notre Dame Magazine article. The author deserves credit for writing it and the magazine for publishing it.)
The South Bend Tribune also reported that a group of alumni had organized to “seek detailed information about how the university handles cases of alleged clergy sexual misconduct and how many cases have been reported in the past three decades.”
Perhaps the current external review is in part a response to this initiative.
Conclusion
This is a commendable move by Father Dowd and chairman Veihmeyer. The thoroughness of this investigation and the response of the administration will be critical to maintaining the integrity of the University. The disclosure in the earlier years of the century of an epic number of cases of sexual abuse by clergy and widespread cover-ups by superiors severely damaged the Church and some of its institutions. Let us pray that the Holy Spirit guide Ms. Cantwell and her associates in their quest for truth and justice.
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Oremus
O God of Truth and Love, You have called us into a loving and faithful relationship with You. Your Son identified Himself as the Way, the Truth, and the Life, and called us to follow Him wherever He goes.
In their care for and guardianship of the University and the students it serves, may the administrators of the University of Notre Dame always commit themselves to the pursuit and embrace of the Truth, which alone can set us free.
May the Holy Spirit lead them into all truth and recall them to it in times of peril. May they embrace the sorrow that comes from being different from, and rejected by, the world, so that they may rejoice always in the goodness of the Lord.
In the day of battle, may they joyfully take courage in Him who has already overcome the world.
We make our prayer through the intercession of Notre Dame, Our Mother, and in the Name of Jesus, Your Son, who lives and reigns with You, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, forever and ever. Amen.
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4 Responses
It takes a lot of courage to be a whistleblower when a multimillion dollar organization is involved. It seems to me that there are at least two attorneys that have worked with whistleblowers making claims against the Church, that may have a lot of good advice on how to deal with a situation like this. You know, I keep thinking about Archbishop Vigano, the former papal ambassador to the United States. He had some negative things to say about Pope Francis and he went underground and has been living in undisclosed locations for at least two years now. I wonder why he went underground? Then I think about this priest from Buffalo who had some things to say about the Buffalo diocese and this priest from Albany who had some things to say about the Albany diocese that Christine Niles investigated. It was quite a coincidence that both seemingly stable good men committed suicide, and one of the priests who was right handed shot himself in the left side of the head. Very coincidental, but the local prosecutors in the jurisdictions said these good stable men must have committed suicide. There was something about the priest from Albany being forced to sign a letter by Bishop Hubbard retracting his allegations before he allegedly committed suicide. There are some very dark forces in the lavender mafia in the Church, that are not the same as the smiling gentle priest that shakes your hand after Mass or your member of the “Notre Dame family”. You know, I wonder why these rumors form around groups like the Church or the Clintons? You know, I keep also thinking about the head of the Department of Corrections in Colorado who had a pizza delivery guy show up unexpectedly at his door and shoot him a few years back, when he might have had some knowledge of some government corruption. It was kind of coincidental that the same thing happened to the husband and son of a federal judge in New Jersey that was handling something to do with Prince Andrew. What’s even weirder and more coincidental is that both of these unexpected deadly pizza delivery guys were killed in gunfights with law enforcement withing24-72 hours after the pizza deliveries and before law enforcement could question them. These things sound very scary, so I hope that the students involved get good, strong, experienced legal help, just like Notre Dame is, and I hope that plenty of sunshine and light keeps bad people from doing dark things. I wonder if there is a way to involve multiple law enforcement from outside the St. Joe County and Indiana/Chicago jurisdictions? The more people looking at this situation, the harder it will be for misunderstandings or coincidences to occur with respect to these brave, stable men, who are probably quite stable, though they have been through hard times, and are not secretly suicidal. No secret messages here, the complaining parties and any Notre Dame witnesses should ABSOLUTELY press forward with the truth, but know that this can go a lot deeper and darker than your general practice attorney in Mishawaka may sincerely be telling you about, just because they aren’t familiar with this stuff, but the Church is quite familiar with it.
For Notre Dame to unashamedly proclaim the Truth and Beauty of the one true holy Catholic and Apostolic Church in the spirit of its founders, the Holy Cross Priests, and the Blessed Virgin Mother Mary, for whom the university is named. From the Truth of life beginning at conception and needing to be protected in the womb to the Truth that there are only 2 genders, and that we are created in them as men and women by our Creator, in the image and likeness of God, to the Truth that it is the content of one’s character that matters and not their identity or the color of their skin, I fervently pray that Notre Dame’s leaders, academic deans, professors, administrators, and students have the peace of mind, strength, courage, and fortitude to be beacons of light in the growing darkness of academia that cannot even recognize the scourge of anti-semitism on Ivy League campuses and is actively subverting these truths today.
Sympathy for all the students affected by this situation. It did take courage to say something, a lot of courage. I would like to see Notre Dame turn over its investigative files, whether by Fr. Jarrett or the NY law firm to the St. Joseph County prosecutor. Now that would truly by an act of honest integrity and discourage any future possible inappropriate activity towards students. Why hasn’t Notre Dame announced Fr. Jarrett’s previous investigation before now? Notre Dame in all honesty doesn’t want these allegations to be true and may fear civil liability. The NY law firm appears to work for and get paid by Notre Dame, and no one else in this matter. Wonder if the graduated students being interviewed by the NY law firm will ask the St. Joe County prosecutor and their own attorneys to also be present, when the allegations are being discussed regarding employees from a multimillion dollar organization? It might be harder for people to misunderstand what was said in an interview if multiple people, who hopefully have the truth and the students’ interest first, were present. Curious how much influence Notre Dame has over local politicians like the St. Joe County prosecutor? May God bless the truthful people who act with courage and do what is right.
Discovery of the truth is paramount. Disclosure of the reasons for involving (or not involving) law enforcement is also key. It is just plain wearisome to constantly see a claim for an “independent, third party investigation” as if such a move will put all the issues to rest – these have been attempted by dioceses in the past, only to result in the diocese requesting the investigation to stonewall the selected third party investigator.