Federal Judge Joseph LaPlante dismissed without testimony Fr Gordon MacRae’s recent hope for justice. No U.S. court has allowed this defendant to utter a single word.
Editor’s Note: The following is a guest post by Ryan A. MacDonald, author of “The Trial of Father MacRae: A Conspiracy of Fraud.”
I am not here to cast Donald Trump-like aspersions upon a judge whose decision I simply do not like. I have no doubt that Father Gordon MacRae would bar me from publishing here if I did. I am simply here to describe a grievous error that occurred in United States District Court in Concord, New Hampshire, and other facts that continue to trouble me greatly a year after I published an important article on this site: “Judge Joseph LaPlante Denies Priest’s Appeal.”
Many people have come to believe that the 1994 prosecution and trial of Father Gordon MacRae, and subsequent appeals, have left an innocent man in prison and a gaping wound on the integrity of the criminal justice system. One issue that I and others simply cannot comprehend is that no one in this system – absolutely no one – has allowed this accused priest to utter a single word in his own defense.
After the prosecution rested its case in 1994 – with lots of theatrics but no evidence – Judge Arthur Brennan addressed MacRae directly, outside the presence of the jury. He cautioned MacRae against testifying in his own defense. If he did so, the judge warned, the door would be opened to allow other claims from Thomas Grover, his brothers, and others to come before the jury and taint its view of this case.
The public defender who minimally handled MacRae’s direct appeal in 1996 said that he was surprised by Judge Brennan’s warning, but could find no legal precedent to cite it as an appeal issue. At one point in the trial, Judge Brennan instructed the jurors to “disregard inconsistencies in Thomas Grover’s testimony.” As Dorothy Rabinowitz wrote in The Wall Street Journal, “they had much to disregard” (WSJ, “A Priest’s Story: Part II,” April 28, 2005).
In a sentencing hearing weeks after the trial, Judge Arthur Brennan sentenced MacRae to a term of 67 years in prison – more than thirty times the two-year maximum sentence proposed to MacRae pre-trial, deals that the priest rejected citing his innocence of the charges. During the sentencing phase, he was not permitted to say a single word in his own defense while the Judge berated him for observing his Constitutional right to a jury trial.
When sentencing MacRae, Judge Arthur Brennan offered some evidence and testimony of his own: “This court has heard clear and convincing evidence that you created child pornography of your victims.” In the entire trial, not a single word about child pornography was ever raised. Eleven years later, the lead detective in the case admitted to Dorothy Rabinowitz of The Wall Street Journal, “There was never any evidence of pornography.”
MacRae, in prison after the trial, was neither present nor represented by counsel as Thomas Grover and his brothers continued the fraud in civil court seeking lucrative settlements from the Catholic Diocese of Manchester. Everyone had a voice and a lawyer except Gordon MacRae.
And he was silenced yet again, not even permitted to be present, in his direct state appeal in 1996 when judges dismissed as “harmless error” the egregious testimony of a psychological expert that should not have been admitted at trial while MacRae’s defense was allowed no expert. As Innocence Project founders, Attorneys Barry Scheck and Peter Neufeld described in their book, Actual Innocence (Random House 2000):
“For an innocent person, the two most dangerous words in the language of the law are ‘harmless error.’ These are the magic words that appellate courts use to absolve police officers and prosecutors of misconduct.” (p. 172)
“ESPECIALLY A CATHOLIC PRIEST”
There was a lot to absolve. As The Wall Street Journal’s Dorothy Rabinowitz described (see “The Trials of Father MacRae,” May 13, 2013): “Those aware of the facts of this case find it hard to imagine that any court today would ignore the perversion of justice it represents.” I exposed some concrete examples of those perversions of justice in “The Trial of Father MacRae: A Conspiracy of Fraud.”
It is an inescapable fact of injustice that from 2012 to 2015 three additional judges and courts heard motions to revisit this trial, but dismissed them without permitting a single word of testimony from defendant Gordon MacRae or any of the witnesses who have come forward, some quite courageously.
On March 17, 2015, Judge Joseph LaPlante heard oral arguments from attorneys Robert Rosenthal and Cathy Green representing the imprisoned priest, and Assistant Attorney General Elizabeth Woodcock for the prosecution. Neither Father MacRae nor any of the newly presented witnesses in this case were present, nor was any of their testimony heard. The arguments took just under two hours, a flash in time compared to the twenty-two years MacRae has thus far spent in wrongful imprisonment. On March 25, 2015, Judge LaPlante dismissed the habeas corpus petition from going forward. There was to be no further hearing on testimony, merits or evidence.
Additionally, Judge LaPlante declined to grant a Certificate of Appealability to bring this matter to the First Circuit Court of Appeals. This had the effect of forcing MacRae to fund an added appeal of the denial of a Certificate of Appealability. One full year later, in April of 2016, the First Circuit Court of Appeals declined to reverse the decision not to allow a further appeal. I held my pen until that decision was rendered.
I do not want to use limited space here to rehash what I wrote in “Judge Joseph LaPlante Denies Priest’s Appeal.” I hope that after reading this article, you will go back to read it for yourselves for it lays out all the reasons why I believe this outcome to be an abuse of judicial discretion. Denying the Certificate of Appeal had the effect of bankrupting the defense of a man who has spent twenty-two years in prison for crimes that most observers today conclude never took place.
THE GRIEVOUS ERROR
However, none of that addresses the error that I am here today to address. I have spent considerable time reading a transcript of that hearing and Judge LaPlante’s ruling. A significant part of both troubled me greatly, and I know that it troubled Father MacRae as well. It simply did not concur with MacRae’s memory of this case, and his memory, according to Dorothy Rabinowitz, is “encyclopedic.” The error involves a point that was heavily stressed by Judge LaPlante in both the transcript and his dismissal order. I will begin with the transcript. The speaker is Judge LaPlante:
“Now, leaving [Thomas] Grover’s credibility aside, nothing that [new witnesses] say undermines what seems to be a very important piece of evidence in the underlying criminal trial which is that when [James] McLaughlin, a detective from Keene, confronted MacRae with these accusations, he didn’t deny them. He had a very unusual response, basically quibbling with [Detective] McLaughlin over the proper terminology to apply to a person who is sexually attracted to children under 14 or 15. I don’t even remember the terms right now, but he basically corrected the detective for using the word pedophile. He came up with a more correct term – a more precise term. Whether that was even correct is debatable. But it was a very unusual response. It wasn’t a denial. It wasn’t the type of conduct that one would expect one to undertake when accused in that way. Especially a Catholic priest… MacRae did not react in a manner one would expect of an innocent person.” (T: 51-52)
Now, the excerpt above reflects just two paragraphs of a 70-page court transcript, but it was an extensive part of the reasoning behind Judge LaPlante’s two-page decision dismissing the federal habeas petition. What Judge LaPlante described above is a claim that Detective McLaughlin confronted Father MacRae about the charges involving Thomas Grover, referred to MacRae as a “pedophile,” and then instead of simply denying it, MacRae supposedly corrected McLaughlin by telling him that the correct term is “hebophile.”
There is just one major problem here. It never happened! Detective James McLaughlin never once “confronted MacRae with these accusations,” nor did any of what Judge LaPlante refers to above have any connection with the case at hand. This is an egregious perversion of justice.
When I read this I was very troubled. Father MacRae has been confined in a 96-square-foot cell for twenty-two years with very limited access to documents in this case and no access to online research. As the above scenario surfaced, his lawyers sent him a statement to sign stating that he never made any such admission to Detective McLaughlin, but “told him that someone who might be attracted to someone Grover’s age would be an ‘phebophile,’ not a ‘pedophile.’ “
MacRae was troubled because he has no memory of McLaughlin ever discussing any aspect of the Thomas Grover case with him. He simply assumed that someone (his own lawyers? the prosecutors?) who have access to transcripts, must have found such a reference somewhere.
But they did not. No such reference exists. In the case for which Father MacRae was indicted and faced trial, McLaughlin and the prosecutors brought secret indictments. This priest first learned of the very existence of this case on the night of May 5, 1993, the night that police showed up at his door to arrest him on charges that were then over a decade old. He had no subsequent or even previous discussion about these charges with McLaughlin.
So what is going on here? When I got to the bottom of it, the truth was spine-chilling in its gross manipulation of this defendant, but it had no connection whatsoever with Thomas Grover’s charges or this trial or the appeal of this case. Bear with me, please, for this is indeed a complex account.
WHACK-A-MOLE JUSTICE HOLDS COURT
In 1988, a full five years before Thomas Grover and his brothers concocted their scheme to accuse Gordon MacRae, Keene, NH sex crimes Detective James McLaughlin targeted a number of Catholic priests who had lived and worked in the Keene area. One of them was Father MacRae who was assigned in Keene from 1983 to 1987. In 1987 and 1988, on a leave from parish ministry, MacRae was Executive Director of a regional chemical dependency treatment center near Keene, and in 1989 he became Director of Admissions for the Servants of the Paraclete facility for troubled priests in Albuquerque, NM.
No one had come to Detective McLaughlin with a complaint about MacRae. He launched an exhaustive investigation based on a letter from a state social worker claiming that MacRae was once a priest in Florida where he “molested two boys, one of whom was murdered and his body mutilated.” Dorothy Rabinowitz wrote about that contrived and slanderous account in “A Priest’s Story: Part One” (WSJ, April 27, 2005). The Florida story had no basis in fact. MacRae had never been a priest in Florida nor had such a crime even occurred there. The social worker’s claimed source was an official of the Diocese of Manchester who later denied it. For Detective McLaughlin, however, it became probable cause to launch a moral panic.
On September 19, 1989, Father MacRae received a telephone call from his sister in the Boston area. Upset and angry, she informed him that she received a call from Detective McLaughlin in Keene who told her that he was investigating MacRae for creating pornographic photographs of Keene youths. She gave her brother the number that McLaughlin left, and of course, knowing there was no truth to the claim, the priest called that number.
This was all set up in advance. That particular telephone line into the Keene Police Department was automatically recorded so McLaughlin was not required to obtain a warrant to call and record the priest. A warrant would require evidence, and there was none. This was a fishing expedition. In this telephone call, McLaughlin accused MacRae of taking pornographic photos of 15-year-old Jon Plankey who was later described by McLaughlin as an employee of his in “a family owned business.” It was also later discovered that McLaughlin and Plankey had made similar claims against three others, one of them Timothy Smith, a local Protestant church choir director who was charged and pled guilty.
MacRae vehemently denied the claim. He did not know he was being recorded, but at some point he invited McLaughlin to search his earthly possessions which were still stored in New Hampshire. McLaughlin declined to search anything, but stated that Plankey’s claims would become part of a lawsuit against the Diocese of Manchester. MacRae insisted that no such photographs were ever taken and do not exist. He asked McLaughlin why he isn’t even interested in searching for them. The detective reportedly replied, “Because I know there will be nothing there. You probably gave them to another priest.”
The detective wrote a report about this telephone conversation. It was report file number 89-12196 dated September 19, 1989. In that report, McLaughlin wrote that he recorded the conversation. His report claimed that he and Jon Plankey listened to the tape together, and that “a transcript will be made of this tape.” MacRae states (above) that McLaughlin said, “You probably gave [the photographs] to another priest.” If true, McLaughlin omitted this from his report, but it would have been present on the tape and transcript. So, where are they? And where are the condemning photographs?
Also in that report, McLaughlin wrote that he asked MacRae if he is a “pedophile.” His report claims that MacRae corrected him saying, “the correct term would be ‘hebophile.’ “ MacRae says he has never even heard of this word. I have found a reference to that word in only two places: McLaughlin’s 1989 report, and a transcript of a 1988 Geraldo Rivera Show faxed to McLaughlin (described below).
Among the many people McLaughlin approached in 1988-1989 looking for someone to accuse MacRae were members of the Grover family. Their mother, Patricia Grover, was then a social worker for the state agency that investigates child abuse cases, a position in which she interfaced often with Detective McLaughlin. His 1988 report indicated that Mrs. Grover would interview her three adopted sons, Thomas, David, and Jonathan Grover, all in their early twenties. None voiced a complaint about MacRae. Five years later, when the prospect of money loomed, all three changed their minds at the same time. Demonstrating the role that expectations of money played in this case, there is hard evidence that McLaughlin conducted some of his investigation from the office of Attorney Robert Upton, Thomas Grover’s contingency lawyer.
In 1993, as MacRae prepared for trial in the Thomas Grover case, state prosecutors were required to turn over all police reports related to the priest. MacRae was shocked to learn of a vast 72-page 1988 report and the 1989 report of the taped phone call with the “hebophile” claim.
When Thomas Grover accused MacRae five years later in 1993, prosecutors attempted to introduce into the trial the Plankey claim from 1989 as so-called “404-B” evidence of “other bad acts.” The defense filed a motion to obtain the recordings referred to in McLaughlin’s 1989 report. Judge Arthur Brennan ordered the state to turn over all recordings that McLaughlin claimed in reports to have made. McLaughlin wrote in a sworn statement that the tapes were lost due to having been “recycled.” Judge Brennan also ordered him to turn over the transcript of the 1989 recording. McLaughlin claimed that due to a clerical error the transcript was never made. The 1989 tape recorded conversation detailed herein is well documented (see USDC-NM 1504, §§ 28-32).
I can only conclude today that McLaughlin knew the recording contained his comment, “You probably gave [the lewd photos] to another priest,” a statement that would have unmasked a vile prejudice that would have weighed heavily in the trial. So the recordings disappeared. So did the so called “404-B” evidence.
Eleven years after this trial, after claiming repeatedly and under oath that all the tape recordings of MacRae that McLaughlin referenced in his reports were “recycled” and cannot be produced, the detective mailed one of them to Dorothy Rabinowitz at The Wall Street Journal. It contained 45 minutes of Father MacRae sounding bewildered by the lurid accusations aimed at him, and his reference that he should talk to a lawyer, a request McLaughlin claims the priest never made.
This issue of tape recordings is very suspicious and has never been explained. McLaughlin claimed to have taped three phone conversations with MacRae, without his knowledge, and though there was no evidence obtained, McLaughlin attributed remarks to MacRae that the priest says he never made. Then all the tape recordings disappeared. The only witnesses to their existence or content are the detective and the priest. So why do the courts believe one over the other? Further, it seems that it was McLaughlin’s practice to tape record all conversations with accusers, but in this one case he produced not a single tape recording of any interview with the Grover brothers. In every other case of this sort he meticulously created recordings and preserved them as evidence. In some cases, including a claimant against another priest, McLaughliin arranged a polygraph for the accuser. None of this happened in the MacRae case. It should be noted here that MacRae himself underwent two voluntary polygraph examinations and passed them both.
There is more. It seems that the source of the “hebophile” term for which Judge Joseph LaPlante dismissed MacRae’s petition may have been McLaughlin himself. Among the discovery obtained from the 1989 report about Jon Plankey’s claims of pornographic photos was a transcript faxed from the Geraldo Rivera Show to the Keene Police Department on November 14, 1988. The pages of the transcript were labeled by prosecutors in the discovery material as E-326 through E-331.
The topic of the “Geraldo” transcript that became part of Detective McLaughlin’s file was “The Church’s Sexual Watergate.” It contains this passage that someone at either Keene Police or the prosecutor’s office underlined and marked with a bold asterisk before sending it in pre-trial discovery in 1994. The transcript has nothing to do with the MacRae case, nor was he ever a part of it. It details a conversation between Geraldo Rivera and “Roland Lewis, Attorney for Church sex abuse victims”:
Geraldo: “Did there come a time, sir, when this priest was recognized to be a pedophile by the church and was taken to St. Luke’s Institute to be treated?”
Mr. Lewis: “They sent him to St. Luke’s Institute. He was kept there 12 weeks. During that time it was determined, according to their medical records, that he was a homosexual. We finally were able to obtain copies of those medical records. We have had them evaluated. They establish without question that he is a pedophile and a hebophile.”
Geraldo: “What’s a hebophile?”
Mr. Lewis: “It’s an abuser of adolescent children.”
Geraldo: “I thought that’s what a pedophile was. Help me.”
Mr. Lewis: “The preadolescent is primarily a pedophile. The adolescent is a hebophile.”
I wrote of this same transcript, and the role it played in the MacRae case, in another article, “A Touch of Deja Vu.” It seems that someone has lifted the supposed 1989 telephone conversation between Father MacRae and Detective McLaughlin – mired in suspicions of misconduct over missing tapes and transcripts – implanted it into the unrelated trial involving Thomas Grover, then used it twenty-two years later to deny access to justice in Father MacRae’s appeals. If this is the state of criminal justice, it is only half right. It is criminal. But it isn’t justice.
WHAT WOULD SAINT THOMAS MORE DO?
On September 13, 2012, a full year before MacRae’s habeas corpus petition came before Judge LaPlante, the annual “Red Mass” for the legal and law enforcement community took place at Saint Joseph Cathedral up in the Diocese of Manchester, New Hampshire. It was officiated by The Most Reverend Peter A. Libasci, Bishop of Manchester. Following the Mass, Bishop Libasci was a guest of honor as the New Hampshire Catholic Lawyer’s Guild held its annual awards dinner at the Radisson Hotel to honor the 2012 recipient of the St. Thomas More Award.
According to the Catholic Lawyer’s Guild invitation, the award is bestowed upon a Catholic lawyer or judge “who embodies the spirit of St. Thomas More in courage, dedication, integrity, civility, and compassion toward others.” On September 13, 2012 the St. Thomas More Award was presented by Bishop Libasci and the Catholic Lawyer’s Guild to The Honorable Joseph N. LaPlante.
Saint Thomas More would have heard all sides. He would not, as so many have done, simply assume a priest’s guilt. He would not have made comments like “especially a Catholic priest.” He would not have presumed the existence of evidence he had never seen nor heard for himself. He would have gotten to the truth of the matter before tossing the case off his desk. He would not have allowed the continued judicial railroading of an innocent man.
For more information on this story, please read these other articles by Ryan A. MacDonald:
Sue says
Each time I read about the travesties that you’ve suffered at the hands of the US “justice” system, my blood boils, Father!
I don’t know if it’s possible, but could you file a lawsuit against Judge LaPlante & Detective McLaughlin for malfeasance, & whatever else the legal profession can find against them? They won’t let you appeal the criminal case, but as far as I know, there’s no reason that a new complaint, a civil lawsuit, on your behalf can’t be brought against both the judge & detective. If possible, get it going & then give it all the publicity you can manage.
It’s very possible that they did to others what they did to you!
Keeping you & Max in our daily prayers! God be with you!
Jim says
“I recently read another article by this same writer entitled “#MeToo & #HimToo: Jonathan Grover & Father Gordon MacRae.” I found it to be a most disturbing indictment of the NH justice system. I lived in the Keene area during this trial in 1994. One of my friends was a juror at that trial. When I shared with him the above mentioned article about these accusers, he said he is very disturbed that none of this was known to that jury.
I cannot help but conclude that by letting this case go unaddressed, and witnesses to the above unheard, the judicial system is intentionally covering up for a corrupt police officer. The young man who today says he was offered money to accuse someone, and the woman who today says her ex husband committed perjury in this trial, should be giving testimony under oath. By not allowing this, Judge Laplante has cast a suspicious light on the court system. I am shocked beyond words at this story.
Jim”
Pat says
Has Father MacRae’s defense ever approached the American Catholic Lawyers Association for assistance with this case? I am not an attorney, but reading this article convinces me that not only is Fr. MacRae innocent, but he is the victim of malfeasance and calumny at the very least.
My prayers are with him.
eamon1883 says
Thanks for all your tremendous work Ryan. Father MacRae you are in my prayers.
One day at a time and hopefully justice will come.
Maureen says
I love this Fr. G. I joined you and added a couple of my intentions to the 54day novena. My mother taught me about this powerful novena so my hopes run high for you! What a brilliant idea. Can you imagine the power of a novena this huge? Sweet!
Many blessings!
Vince says
Please consider making this one of your permanent intentions for your daily rosary. May God bless you beyond belief for your compassion.
Humbly in Christ.
Suzanne Sadler says
http://www.catholicleague.org/a-grievous-error-in-judge-joseph-laplantes-court/
Helen says
Thank you Suzanne…………. Bless you.
Vincent James Sanzone, Jr., Esq. says
Excellent analysis of the decision of the federal district court judge that denied Father Gordon justice. This technique of avoiding the truth by a judge is more common than one would think. The technique is very simple, but used often. What the judge did in this case is set up a “straw man”, argument than knock it down. Because the evidence was so overwhelming that Father Gordon is innocent, the judge latched onto irrelevant questionable facts, and than used those questionable specious facts to deny Father Gordon justice. I did not have the privilege of reading the transcripts, but if the judge denied Father Gordon’s writ based on this argument, the judge committed a manifest miscarriage of justice. Bestowing the Thomas More medal on lawyers and judges by bishops in the United States is a joke. Bishop Meyers in the Dioceses of Newark bestowed the medal on Donald Trumps sister, Mary Trump Barry (convert to the Catholic faith) who is still sitting as a federal judge for the third circuit court of appeals. She is pro-abortion and her anti-life decisions on the bench have proven that over and over again. As long as our bishops continue to play politics our holy Church will decline and our beloved priests will be abandoned. God Bless Father Gordon, PAX CHRISTI
Ryan A. MacDonald says
Dear Readers of These Stone Walls:
I came here today with the intention of responding personally to each of the comments, but there are simply too many and I am heartened by that fact. So let me just post a comment that tries to respond to much of what has been written here. The idea of appealing to the Governor for some sort of pardon or clemency is a very natural thought, but not a very feasible one. The Crime Bill that was put forth by President Clinton and signed into law in the early 1990s severely limited every unjustly convicted person’s access to relief. Even the words “actual innocence” are no longer seen as a reason to reverse a conviction. Even if the accuser recants, American courts no longer believe it. In New Hampshire, a governor has not issued a pardon or clemency since before the Civil War in the 1850s. In an election year with a Democratic Governor running for Senate, it is simply futile.
I agree with all the writers who see a higher purpose in the suffering of Father MacRae and others wrongfully convicted. However, we still have an obligation to the justice system itself to point out its errors and flaws because those errors cost something as precious as human life: human freedom. And so maybe the most we can do right now is what Dorothy Stein suggested so wisely. Share this story. Post it. Put it on Facebook and Google+ and other social networks. Ask your contacts to share it. Email a link to people you know. I happen to know Father MacRae and I know that speaking the truth and making it known is as important to him as the idea of freedom. What has taken place is a moral panic, and priests have been treated with grave injustice both in the justice system and in their chancery offices. We must shout that fact from the rooftops.
And there is always prayer the power of which I do not ever discount. Thank you for reading this account, now please spread it.
Ryan A. MacDonald
Cathy says
St. Thomas More, another saint brought to glory through unjust imprisonment. There is a particular irony that Judge La Plante be awarded in his name. That being said, I came upon a prayer written by the saint in the Tower of London. http://www.apostles.com/moreprayer.html God bless you and keep you Father Gordon!
Juan says
Thank you; Ryan, for this chilling and thorough account that allows us to understand how the plot against Catholic priest Fr. MacRae is still very much on. I would like to think that presenting writings like this one of yours to the right person or persons should help correct the repeated injustices perpetrated against him. Unfortunately some of those persons have already declined to act but we must keep our prayers up.
Fr. MacRae’s situation is an insult to justice among other things. Like all of us TSW readers, I really would want to see it corrected immediately, for his sake first of all, but also for the sake of what should be a respectable justice system and the respectability of the people who make it up.
Without detracting in the least from what Father Gordon does deserve, let us not forget there is widespread animosity against priests, religious and even lay Christians in several parts of the world, animosity that at times takes more extreme forms than in Father’s case. I could cite here more than a dozen countries where attacks have involved not so much protracted perfidy, as in Fr. Gordon’s case, but rather more brutal and irreparable deeds. In “civilized” Western European nations there have been priest beatings, blasphemous and sacrilegious Church break-ins, verbal harassment and media lynching, arson against temples, false accusations too, and always having Christians as the victim. Often with little if any media coverage and meeting passivity from the part of authorities.
It seems that “our battle is not against human forces but against the principalities and powers, the rulers of this world of darkness, the evil spirits in regions above” (Ephesians 6:12). It also seems that satan and co-workers are at large and active. To add to our spiritual repertoire as already described in previous comments, it might be of help using as well the prayers Pope Leo XIII prescribed at the end of the 19th century asking for protection of the Church against its/our enemies, and certainly Father Gordon MacRae’s enemies: the Salve Regina, an invocation to all the Saints headed by Mary, Joseph, Peter and Paul, a prayer to St. Michael The Archangel, to end with a short prayer to The Sacred Heart of Jesus.
God bless,
Juan.
Suzanne Formanek says
I think a 54 day rosary for Fr. MacRae is an excellent idea. As no date was brought forward can I suggest beginning this Thursday, June 30th, the day we commemorate the first martyrs of the Holy Roman Church. I think its most appropriate since Father obviously falls into the category of martyr.
Maria Stella says
Thank you for suggesting a date, Suzanne F. It’s a very relevant date and so very appropriate to begin the 54 day novena. For sure I will begin the novena on that day.
Suzanne Sadler and Charlene, as editors of TSW , may I may a request on behalf of those who have suggested the 54 day novena? As the next TSW post will probably be June 29, could you please add a note at the end of the post to invite supporters of Fr. MacRae to join in a 54 day rosary novena that will start on June 30 , the day the first martyrs of the Holy Roman Church are commemorated?
The intention is justice for Fr MacRae and that he be released from prison.
Other readers may want to add their particular intentions.
God bless.
Maria Stella says
Ann Marie and others..
A 54 day rosary novena is a great idea. For all those who want to do the novena, could we start on the same day? And commit to praying 5 decades of the rosary daily for the 54 days? On which date should we start?
Jacklyn Kowal says
I completely agree w/all the above statements. I say my Rosary almost every day & include prayers for all those in prison, especially Fr. MacRae & others wrongly imprisoned. Unfortunately from what I’ve read, it seems some judges & others in power think they are God. God’s ways are mysterious & there is a reason for unfortunate & bad things happening to any of us, some more than others, but God will be triumphant at the end.
Pierre Matthews says
Mr MacDonald,
The Thomas More Award is nothing but the omerta hiding the satanic thread between
the bishop of Manchester and the Appelate Court judge in Concord, NH.
Our Lord must have plan to submit Fr. Gordon to such travesty of human justice.
You will, however, not be tested above your strength.
With St. Faustina, let us pray: Jesus, I trust in you.
The U.S. Supreme Court is probably the next station.
May I suggest you open a fund to finance this final step.
Pierre Matthews
Helen says
I am wondering…. would it be a good idea to print this blog and SEND IT TO THE JUDGE? … the police; the prosecutor?
I agree with the Rosary….and how about having Masses said for Fr. Gordon? It IS the highest form of prayer….?
I am so happy to see all of these responses…and I hope more are coming. This whole scenario is an outrage and so very hard to accept.
God bless America…deliver us… save us, and, for YOUR glory… free Father Gordon.
Juan says
Dear Helen,
I think it might infuriate them even more against Fr. MacRae. But I agree with trying to find the right person to send this material to.
God bless,
Juan.
Helen says
Thank you so much for your words, Juan. I wouldn’t do it without Father Gordon’s okay. But, I DO appreciate your words.
God bless You,
Helen
Charles Walther says
No one in the history of mankind has been totally free from sin except our Divine Savior and His Immaculate Mother. We all come into this world with original sin on our souls. No one has ever, ever, ever suffered as grievously, or to the EXTREME level than the Most Pure and Holy persons as Our Lord and His Blessed Mother. He asks in every generation an extreme sacrifice from certain individual souls to participate in His and His Mothers unspeakable sufferings for the salvation of souls. St. Paul brought this mystery to the Church’s attention when stated he was making up in his own person what was lacking (a profound MYSTERY) in the sufferings of Christ. I believe with all my heart that Fr. MacRae is not guilty of any of the vile accusations brought against him. With that said, Father is a chosen soul, asked to suffer in union with Our Lord and His Mother, for our sins, the sins of the Church and the sins of the whole world. He is doing more in the battle against satan and all the enemies of our souls both human and fallen angels that a million pious souls who keep the faith and pray for the world. I have been taught by holy souls and through reading of victim souls through the history and lives of the saints, that Father MacRae is one of the greatest benefactors to your and my salvation than any person you and I may ever know of or meet. Pray for our very dear Father Gordon MacRae!
Gallibus says
Nevertheless, the once great USA is still supposed to be a civilized country! This injustice is a tremendous scandal and Catholics in the world should stand up and be counted!
Mary says
Eternal Father, I offer You the Body and the Blood, Soul and Divinity of Your dearly beloved Son, our Lord, Jesus Christ in atonement for our sins and those of the whole world. For the sake of His sorrowful Passion, have mercy on us and on the whole world.
Thy Kingdom come, Thy Will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
Prayer to the Immaculate Heart of Mary
Queen of the Most Holy Rosary, help of Christians, refuge of the human race, victorious in all the battles of God, we prostrate ourselves in supplication before thy throne, in the sure hope of obtaining mercy and of receiving grace and timely aid in our present calamities, not through any merits of our own, on which we do not rely, but only through the immense goodness of thy mother’s heart. In thee and in thy Immaculate Heart, at this grave hour of human history, do we put our trust; to thee we consecrate ourselves, not only with all of Holy Church, which is the mystical body of thy Son Jesus, and which is suffering in so many of her members, being subjected to manifold tribulations and persecutions, but also with the whole world, torn by discords, agitated with hatred, the victim of its own iniquities. Be thou moved by the sight of such material and moral degradation, such sorrows, such anguish, so many tormented souls in danger of eternal loss! Do thou, O Mother of mercy, obtain for us from God a Christ-like reconciliation of the nations, as well as those graces which can convert the souls of men in an instant, those graces which prepare the way and make certain the long desired coming of peace on earth. O Queen of peace, pray for us, and grant peace unto the world in the truth, the justice, and the charity of Christ.
Above all, give us peace in our hearts, so that the kingdom of God may spread its borders in the tranquility of order. Accord thy protection to unbelievers and to all those who lie within the shadow of death; cause the Sun of Truth to rise upon them; may they be enabled to join with us in repeating before the Savior of the world: “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men of good will.”
Give peace to the nations that are separated from us by error or discord, and in a special manner to those peoples who profess a singular devotion toward thee; bring them back to Christ’s one fold, under the one true Shepherd. Obtain full freedom for the holy Church of God; defend her from her enemies; check the ever-increasing torrent of immorality, arouse in the faithful a love of purity, a practical Christian life, and an apostolic zeal, so that the multitude of those who serve God may increase in merit and in number.
Finally, even as the Church and all mankind were once consecrated to the Heart of thy Son Jesus, because He was for all those who put their hope in Him an inexhaustible source of victory and salvation, so in like manner do we consecrate ourselves forever to thee also and to thy Immaculate Heart, O Mother of us and Queen of the world; may thy love and patronage hasten the day when the kingdom of God shall be victorious and all the nations, at peace with God and with one another, shall call thee blessed and intone with thee, from the rising of the sun to its going down, the everlasting “Magnificat” of glory, of love, of gratitude to the Heart of Jesus, in which alone we can find truth, life, and peace.
http://catholicism.about.com/od/tothevirginmary/qt/To_Immac_Heart.htm
May the Immaculate Heart of Mary enfold Fr Gordon in her heart and the Heart of Jesus.
Tom says
A great post…and it is ironic that it was issued on the Feast of St. Thomas More!
Tom
Gallibus says
St Thomas More – please interceed for Fr Gordon!
Dianne says
We have to realize that this is a spiritual fight and we have to go to the One with all power and authority in Faith because when human hearts are hardened a d human eyes are blind and human ears are deaf to righteousness then we must realize we need Supernatural help and healing for the ones who are obstructing justice and binding the innocent unjustly.
We ask that God send the hounds of Heaven to aid all unjustly convicted people and to especially have mercy on those who stand already on His most Holy name. I pray this under the Blood of our Crucified Lord Jesus but ask blessing for all in this situation
A.men
You sister in Christ Jesus
Dianne
@FMShyanguya says
May Father MacRae and all the priests be blessed on earth [even in the midst of all their trials] and may they attain everlasting life.
Carol McKinley says
Ryan, May God reward your diligence and tenacity in this frustrating and sad case. You are a good man!
Kathleen Riney says
This is a copy of a “reply” I made to an above comment…
How about a ROSARY MARATHON!! We could ask Bishop Sheen to interceed with us!!! (In Reparation for the Bishops, USCCB, Lack of Support & Silence in this Gross Miscarriage of Justice, &, the NH “Bishop’s” assistance in the whole thing!!)
We could do a 24-48-72-hours, or, longer. We could have “sign ups” for 30 to 60 min. each. Bet we could cover a Marathon over a Month Long!! Because even those of us who can’t get out, could participate!
Gallibus says
Count me in!
Patricia says
Dear Fr. MacRae,
I am disgusted at the way you have been treated by the US justice system..I thought they were better than that but again its speaks of the way the Catholic Church is treated in the world! So sorry!
Dorothy R. Stein says
It is a mystery to me that anyone could read this well-researched account and still have any trust whatsoever in America’s criminal justice system. There is one point in Mr. MacDonald’s coverage here that struck me very hard. This judge, who is likely a good man believing that he is doing good things, was a career prosecutor. There is nothing to be made of that specifically, but why would he put so much credence in the claims of a detective and so little in the claims of a Catholic priest who he has never even seen or heard from? Frankly, this detective seems to have done some things that cross way over the line constituting prosecutorial misconduct if not outright fraud. So why would this judge simply cover for him? Why would anyone cover for him? This is all that I can conclude from this. Everyone in this system has covered for the misconduct of this one detective. That is egregious. I have read that of the more than 1800 exonerations in which grave miscarriages of justice took place in the United States, 42 % involved some form of police or prosecutor misconduct. And as for the question of what we can do, we can spread this story for it needs to be spread. I have just sent links to this post to a dozen media and other agencies, and other readers should do the same. Cases like this happen because of the noise of a few and the silence of many.
M says
I wonder at a judge who makes false claims when even the detective admitted there was no evidence found of child pornography?
Despite this disheartening news I hope Father G and all those imprisoned unjustly take some consolation that Divine Justice and Mercy exonerates them and affirms their innocence. Like Jesus crucified their suffering united with His is saving many souls.
eddie too says
based on my very limited experiences with the criminal justice system, it has long been my belief that its judges are the most corrupt officials in the usa. there are bad cops, but their percentage of the whole is miniscule, i believe in comparison to the percentage of judges who are corrupt. i know of two personal experiences where judges in the lowest levels were corrupt. i imagine the corruption only magnifies as the power grows. certainly, we have many judicial opinions at the highest level that are for the most part totally unsupportable by logic, reason or knowledge.
i fear there is little that we can do about it. as a society loses its bearings, the corruption of its most powerful and influential people grows accordingly.
even when europe was nearly 100% percent christian, those who were most powerful had corrupt members among them.
since the most influential and powerful in the usa have for the most part completely abandoned the use of reason, i fear the injustices are going to grow in both number and severity.
prayer and a willingness to suffer for the truth are our best weapons against this. also, making public the facts surrounding public corruption is useful. the problem with the effectiveness of transparency is that so many are not concerned about justice and fairness but rather are almost solely focused on improving their material well-being. in other words, many people simply will not make time for overseeing our public officials.
Gallibus says
An effective audit system needs to be implemented to check on the elements of the Justice System.
Caroline says
What can we do? There must be something! Protests? Money? What can we do?
Bonnie says
Thank you for this post Mr. MacDonald. I will be sending a printed copy to our Church leaders in New Hampshire. It may only be another thorn in their side as I have sent them previous posts but I have to do it.
Mary Jean Diemer says
I am filled with sorrow that Father’s is not allowed to appeal.It seems we need to pray for the release of satan’s grip on those in power in New Hampshire, be it Church or State.
We also need to pray for someone who will have the authority to challenge the awful injustice of this. The positive spin on this is the work of the Holy Spirit through Father Gordon in that prison and to us out here. That same Holy Spirit has the power to conquer satan’s grip. I agree with Anne Marie about the Rosary. Our Lady is also the one to intercede and this is her tool for us to use. Mass and Communion also. We need to keep spreading these reports and blogs. They cannot stop us from praying for Father and his release nor informing as many as possible about what is occurring.Thank you Ryan for all that you do and have done.
God love and bless you all. Sending love and prayers as always, Jeannie Diemer
James Guzek says
Ryan, is there any possibility to appeal to the governor of NH for a pardon for Fr. McRae?
Mary Fran says
A pardon? For what? Father Gordon has done NOTHING for which he needs a pardon. Pardons are for guilty men, not innocent ones. What he needs is to be released as the innocent man that he is and compensated for the grave wrong that has been done to him.
Gallibus says
100% correct!
Rosemary says
This is almost unbelievable. In Australia even if he were guilty Fr MacCrae would now be out on parole. But then he probably would not have been found guilty. He would have been vilified and pilloried by the media but he would have had a fair trial and had the chance to defend himself.
His story must be spread all over the world and America must see itself exposed for the manipulation and lies in its Justice system. Also almmost unbeliuevable is the fact that the Bishop would stand by and see a Judge given an award when he had presided over such a blatant miscarriage of justice.
The big question is why, who and one is very drawn to see it as a plot of Freemasons against Catholic clergy.
We must all make sure the world hears of this and we must all pray. In the meantime it seems to me that Father is doing really great work in the prison and people are having access to a spiritual life that they would not have if he were not there sharing their lives with them.
May the Good Lord bless him and bring justice to him and may he be rewarded for his fidelity.
Rosemary
Gallibus says
I think you hit the nail on the Head!
Treasa says
Sounds like that judge is a bitter Mason who hates the Church.
bill adams says
God bless you, Father. Is there no justice in New Hampshire?
Bernadette McK says
I understand that a relic of St Thomas More will soon be arriving in the US.
I agree with Helen about the helplessness that those of us who have been following Fr Gordon’s blog feel. We must carry on praying for his release and not give up.
Today in England is the Feast of St Thomas More and St John Fisher. May they both intercede for Fr Gordon.
Helen says
Amen!!
Kathleen Riney says
AND, AMEN!!! How about a ROSARY MARATHON!! We could ask Bishop Sheen to interceed with us!!! (In Reparation for the Bishops, USCCB, Lack of Support & Silence in this Gross Miscarriage of Justice, &, the NH “Bishop’s” assistance in the whole thing!!)
We could do a 24-48-72-hours, or, longer. We could have “sign ups” for 30 to 60 min. each. Bet we could cover a Marathon over a Month Long!! Because even those of us who can’t get out, could participate! ?
Carmel says
Great idea, Kathleen!
Jean Smith says
What can people do on behalf of Fr. MacRae and his case? What can we do to help?
Jeanette Slaw says
I am leaving for Mass soon, and you will be in my prayers, Fr. MacRae. We exchanged letters several years ago. I will be 83 soon, and shared my 44+year Prison Ministry with you. I am in tears for you right now, and will pray hard for you at Mass. Jeanette
Helen says
God bless you, Jeanette
Helen says
Ryan, thank you so much for writing this and ‘trying’ to defend our Fr. Gordon, again. Evil surely does reign in this world. What truth there is in the saying: “Good deeds never go unpunished”. In this case, the good deed would be you and others who are trying to get some sort of justice for an innocent person, namely Fr. Gordon MacRae. Indifference, from justice, would be the punishment.
I don’t know what I could do to help. This feeling of helplessness is daunting. As time goes on, that sense gets worse and worse. The more I know about Father’s innocence, the more frustrated I am. Where in God’s creation can we go to get some sort of semblance to justice? Pray, yes! Surely, there is more, somehow.
Having been the recipient, on a civil level, of the injustices of our courts, I fully understand and empathize, wholeheartedly, with our Fr. Gordon. I was not imprisoned but it did cause me to lose my home. I only say this to exemplify my deep sorrow for our good friend. Having ‘been there’ on a far lesser degree, my heart just breaks for him. It’s really true. Our courts DON’T work!
Please continue to defend him wherever you can. Don’t be afraid to let us know, either here or email (my permission is given to Fr. Gordon or anyone who helps him, to give my email address to you) what we can do, other than prayer, to assist.
God bless you, Ryan. You surely are a knight in shining armor. Thank you and all the others who are trying to get to the bottom of one of the most grotesque injustices in our country.
Anne Marie Brandt says
Hi Helen:
We all need to pray the 54 day Rosary Novena to our Blessed Mother for Father Gordon. St. Padre Pio said, the Rosary is Mary’s weapon against Satan. If we all pray it, God will answer!
God bless you,
Anne Marie