New Allegations of Improper Burials and Grave Robbing by The Archdiocese of Boston

[Ian David]

Follow Up to the Catholic Church's New Burial Scandal

After breaking a story on the improper burial and desecration at grave sites at Holy Cross Cemetery in Malden, Massachusetts, the Archdiocese of Boston has just come out with a statement that they are willing to exhume the grave site of the woman that had been buried without a grave liner. You can see the original story here.

Fox25 News Station in Boston was the first, and only station to uncover this story after a former gravedigger for the Catholic Church came forward with claims of desecration at the cemetery, claiming cemetery workers had improperly buried a woman, whose grave site was not deep enough for a proper burial. Also were claims that cemetery workers had stolen gold teeth and other valuables from the grave sites.

The Archdiocese harshly criticized the news station after they released their original story, and came forward stating they are willing to investigate the accusations further, which contradicts their original statement which read that they had "thoroughly investigated and proved to be unfounded..." the claims that Tom Keigney, the former gravedigger, had brought forward. According to a recent statement, the concerns of the family members are paramount, and they will be informed of the exhumation so they can view the grave to ease their concerns, so says the Archdiocese.

The family members, who are currently being represented by Mitchell Garabedian, who formerly represented the victims of the Catholic Church's sex abuse scandals, say the family members would like an apology, and would like for the cemetery workers to own up to the responsibilities of what they have done.

Keigney came forward, after 22 years of living with his guilt. The incident in question happened in January of 1985. He claims to have come forward with this story years ago, to which the Archdiocese hasn't responded. Again this rebukes their original statement, claiming they've investigated and it has been unfounded. The Archdiocese also claims that they have tried to contact the family of the woman who was improperly buried, but the family claims they have never heard from the Archdiocese.

Originally, I was questioning whether the Catholic Church was in trouble, or if Mr. Keigney was trying to settle a score. With the recent contradictions in statements from the Catholic Church, it makes you wonder who is telling the truth? A man with nothing to gain but a clean conscience? Or a Catholic Church trying to cover something up? More will come after the investigation, I'm sure. It's a shame to all the families that have loved ones buried in Holy Cross Cemetery, and the wondering if they're loved ones have been properly treated with the respect they deserve.

You can find the original story as just released here.
http://www.myfoxboston.com/myfox/pages/InsideFox/Detail?contentId=2540503&version=1&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=VSTY&pageId=5.7.1

More:
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/165550/follow_up_to_the_catholic_churchs_new.html

See prior thread:

Graveyard Crimes: Boston Archdiocese covered-up allegations of grave robbing and desecration
Topic started by IanDB1 on Feb-27-07 07:56 AM (0 replies)
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=214&topic_id=114193