In a 48-page decision, Hampden Superior Court Judge Karen L. Goodwin found a longtime Springfield Catholic diocesan lawyer served as a disingenuous spin doctor to shield late Bishop Christopher Weldon from decades-old rape allegations.
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Former Bishop Mitchell T. Rozanski, pictured, of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield is one of several people named as defendants in a lawsuit filed by the man whose sexual assault allegations against the late Bishop Christopher J. Weldon were found to be âunequivocally credibleâ by an independent judge. EAGLE FILE PHOTO
The former altar boy who accused a legendary bishop of rape â an account deemed âunequivocally credibleâ by a retired judge last summer â wants to be compensated for his suffering, citing inaction and connivance by church officials that, he says, exacerbated his pain.
In a lawsuit filed in Hampden Superior Court, the Chicopee man alleges that current and former officials within the Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield, including former Bishop Mitchell T. Rozanski, engaged in a cover-up to protect the reputation of the late Bishop Christopher J. Weldon.