Fr. Escalante Saga: Will Fr. Mullaney be Investigated for a Boundary Violation?

Fr. Mark Mullaney

[For background and previous articles on this situation, go here.]

A second witness has come forward to corroborate that Fr. Ron Escalante's accuser was told to lie, not only by her mother, but by the associate pastor, Fr. Mark Mullaney. According to this witness (called Sophia 2), the accuser (called Molly) said Fr. Mullaney told her to say that Fr. Escalante touched her "tits" (his word) and that made her uncomfortable. She also told her friends that Father told her to lie for the "good of the parish."

Fr. Mullaney is also notorious for dropping F-bombs right and left (not just when he hits his thumb with a hammer). Is that appropriate behavior for any Christian, much less a priest?

The Lepanto Institute has the story.

Second Witness Testifies that Catholic Priest’s Accuser Admitted to Lying

Remember, Fr. Escalante wasn't accused of sex abuse, but of violating a "boundary issue" with a minor, i.e. hugging too aggressively, whatever that means.

As evidence piles up from witnesses, it seems that all the aggression is on the part of those who initiated a vendetta against Fr. Escalante in a determined effort to get rid of him. The moms in the parish who were solicited to slander Father and refused have NEVER been interviewed by the diocese. It seems Fr. Escalante was slated for the "throw him under the bus" maneuver.

If this succeeds, every priest in the diocese is on notice that a false allegation of a "boundary violation" is all it takes to pitch him into the outer darkness and destroy his priesthood.

However It appears that, if what the accuser told her friends is true and she really said it, there's another story begging for investigation -- that of the associate pastor, Fr. Mullaney.

If the accuser really told her friends what's being reported in the latest sworn affidavit, Fr. Mullaney is guilty of not only violating a boundary, i.e. using inappropriate language with a minor, but of calumny and slander as well.

Will Bishop Burbidge remove Fr. Mullaney while the diocese investigates? If not, why not? What's sauce for the pastor is sauce for the associate!