Associated Press

The Catholic Diocese of Grand Rapids has acknowledged that it paid more than $500,000 in 1994 to three women who claimed they were sexually abused by a priest as girls.

Bishop Robert Rose on Friday confirmed the payout to the women, who all are siblings, after the settlement document was obtained by The Grand Rapids Press.

Rose told the newspaper for a copyrighted story Saturday that the diocese bears some responsibility because the bishop at the time knew of problems faced by the Rev. John Thomas Sullivan before he arrived in Grand Rapids in 1958 from New Hampshire.

Sullivan, who died three years ago, served three area parishes before leaving in 1960. After apparently serving as a priest elsewhere, he eventually took a post in Arizona and retired to San Diego, Calif., officials said.

``I felt awful about it when I heard it, and I feel the same today. It should never have happened,'' said Rose, who has been bishop here since 1989.

The settlement is the largest the 11-county diocese has paid in a sexual-abuse case, said John Tully, a trial lawyer for the diocese. Tully said a diocese investigation confirmed the women's allegations, first made in 1993.

In a Grand Rapids Press story, Tully said Sullivan, who died three years ago, showed no remorse when interviewed in 1994.

``He was from my perspective just amoral. He just had no concept that what he had done was wrong,'' Tully told the Press.

The case came to light as Catholic churches nationwide deal with sexual abuse allegations against priests. At least four Michigan priests are among dozens nationwide who have left parishes in recent weeks because of such allegations.

Sullivan served Holy Spirit Church in Grand Rapids, where the girls were parishioners, St. Jude's in Grand Rapids and St. Patrick's in Grand Haven.

The girls claimed the abuse started when they were between 7 and 12 years old, and the incidents continued for about five years, including after the priest moved out of the diocese.

They said he was a friend of their parents.

One of the Grand Rapids victims, who agreed to talk with the Press on condition her name not be used, said her case was ``handled respectfully and with dignity by the representatives of the church.'' But she said she struggles to this day with the emotional fallout.

The West Michigan woman told the Press that Sullivan repeatedly performed sexual acts on her and her sisters, including rape, over a five-year period.

The $500,000 was paid in November 1994, according to the settlement document. The diocese paid an additional $61,000 for the women's counseling costs, records provided to the newspaper by their attorney show.

Sullivan, who lived in San Diego at the time of the settlement, ``acknowledged inappropriate conduct with one of the three sisters, but we felt all three allegations had substance,'' Tully said.

After learning of the 1993 allegations in Michigan, bishops in San Diego and Phoenix prohibited Sullivan from performing religious duties, Tully said.

Records indicate Bishop Allen Babcock, who oversaw the Grand Rapids diocese when Sullivan served there, knew Sullivan had some problems before he arrived from New Hampshire, Tully said.

While serving in the Diocese of Manchester, where he was ordained, Sullivan fathered a child, according to a letter the Manchester bishop sent at the time, Tully said. The Manchester diocese declined to comment on the matter.

A 1960 letter by Babcock hinted at possible misconduct. Tully quoted the letter as stating that while ``nothing of an immoral nature came out in the open'' during Sullivan's tenure, ``there were indications of danger in his conduct with children.''

Babcock died in 1969. Tully said he found no evidence that sexual-abuse allegations were made against Sullivan by then. The women's allegations in 1993 were ``the first notice we had of him or any improper conduct on his part,'' he said.

The Rev. Leonard Sudlik, Holy Spirit's pastor, said he felt he needed to begin a dialogue within his parish about the problem, and would open his door to anyone who needed to talk about the incidents.

``We never need to go in denial,'' Sudlik said Sunday. ``We have to stop and ask ourselves the big thing, is this something we can learn from? We may not want to talk about this, but we need to talk about this and learn from it.''