James Orr -- Credible Allegations Of Abuse

I'd noticed since the start of the year that I was getting a lot more traffic from people googling the late Dcn Orr, even before his death. Apparently it had become general knowledge that he would be named as a credible abuser even before the archdiocese announced it, and several visitors had been giving me a heads-up on the situation. It's even been suggested that the knowledge that this would come out had some bearing on Orr's death at age 58. Yesterday, the Report from the Archdiocese of San Antonio confirmed the speculation. On page 8:

Orr, James – allegations of abuse that predate his ordination

James Orr was ordained a permanent deacon for the Archdiocese in 1997. From 1997-2016, he was assigned in the Archdiocese to Our Lady of the Atonement in San Antonio. In 1992 or 1993, a child alleged that Orr, then a volunteer in the same parish, had sexually molested him in the neighborhood pool. In 2016, the then pastor of Our Lady of the Atonement, Fr. Christopher Phillips, acknowledged that he had received the complaint and had investigated it, finding it to be without basis. He did not inform the archbishop of the allegation, either at the time it was made or later when recommending Orr for ordination to the permanent diaconate. In 2007, a victim alleged that Orr had attempted to sexually abuse him in approximately 1995, also prior to Orr’s ordination. In December 2015, the Archdiocese was contacted by a psychologist who stated that her client had given her permission to inform the Archdiocese that he and another survivor had been sexually abused as children in the 1990’s by Orr. Shortly after this, Orr requested retirement and resigned from all active ministry. The Archdiocese accepted his resignation and forbade him from functioning or presenting himself as a deacon. In 2017, a civil demand was made by a survivor alleging sexual abuse in approximately 1993. Beginning in 2007, the Archdiocese notified the Bexar County District Attorney’s office of all known allegations of child sexual abuse made against Orr. While the reports refer to child sexual abuse alleged to have occurred before Orr’s ordination, the Archdiocese found the abuse survivors credible and forbade Orr from exercising any future ministry, notifying the community of these allegations so that the Archdiocese can assist any other survivors with counseling or pastoral care. Orr died in 2019.

Two things strike me. One is the simple timeline, and the other is "known unknowns" we might be able to derive from things unsaid -- and a great deal here is unsaid. But let's start with the simple timeline as given.

• In 1992 or 93, an allegation is made that Orr molested a boy at a neighborhood pool. This is determined to be without basis by Fr Phillips, by his admission a "wonderful friend".
• There is another allegation of attempted abuse dating from about 1995, made in 2007.
• An allegation is made that two boys were abused by Orr in the 1990s, dating from 2015.
• Yet another survivor alleges abuse in about 1993, in a 2017 demand letter.
• The archdiocese eventually finds all allegations credible, and Orr requests retirement shortly after the 2015 allegation.

OK, fine. Naturally under policies established at Dallas in 2002, Orr would not be allowed to mow a parish lawn even as a volunteer given that kind of record, much less be ordained as a deacon and teach at a parish school. This was in a different time. But let's look at things left unsaid:

• Orr and Phllips, by Phillips's recent acknowledgement, were close friends throughout the period when the abuse occurred.
• Phillips, given the close friendship, had a conflict of interest in minimizing the one allegation of abuse that clearly came to light prior to Orr's ordination as a deacon.
• We simply don't know how much Phillips knew of other conduct by Orr during the 1990s, although the two were close enough to live in adjoining properties with a back gate connecting them.
• Following Orr's ordination, Phillips set up a charity, Our Lady's Dowry, that appears to have had the primary purpose of paying Orr a generous salary off the parish books.
• By early 2017, Abp Garcia-Siller removed Fr Phillips as pastor of the Our Lady of the Atonement parish for unspecified reasons.

Those reasons seem increasingly to have been good ones.

A visitor has updated me on Dcn Orr's funeral arrangements:

Also, check out the facebook comments on the OLOTA page, under Dcn. Orr's...It has been rumored that Bp Lopes made sure that Fr. Phillips did not say the funeral Mass:

It’s a very sad thing when a Bishop acts in the way Bishop Lopes is acting. I cannot think of any positive or even benign reason why he would prevent Father Phillips from saying the funeral mass of his beloved friend and colleague of 35 years. A friend whom together with Father Phillips helped to build this parish from the ground up and dropped it into the Bishop’s lap. This is so cruel and hard to fathom. Shame!

Just so you understand, Fr. Lewis was the officiant at the Mass for Jim Orr. Fr. Phillips led the Rosary.

Visitors have asked me from time to time what Orr had on Phllips. Seems like a good question.