Jesuits in the Spotlight - Clergy Sexual Abuse in the Society of Jesus - ‘The Headmaster Ritual’

Source: What They Knew

American Jesuit Sex Abuser Was Chaplain to British Boys Boarding School

Fr. Donald McGuire knew the Jesuits would let him prey for decades 

Newly uncovered documents reveal twice convicted and imprisoned Chicago Jesuit Donald McGuire SJ began his ministry not in America, but in the United Kingdom in the early 1960s as an associate pastor in Manchester, England. His departure from that post remains unexplained. But given McGuire’s history, superior performance was not likely the factor which lead to his leaving this pastoral position in less than a year. As we have previously uncovered, documents written by his superiors from 1959 have labeled McGuire ‘unfit’ for the priesthood. This fact may in part explain his superiors’ decision to send him outside the US and to the UK, Austria and Germany in 1961 after his ordination.

During this same period, Donald McGuire SJ also travelled frequently to Ireland, giving over six retreats to nuns and laity. Following his departure from Manchester, the Jesuit priest fled the UK and reappeared in Austria and Germany one year later as a part-time military chaplain to British and US soldiers. McGuire being a chaplain to the Anglo-American soldiers is not entirely surprising. As shown HERE, there is a lengthy list of “problem” priests relegated to military service.

What is surprising is the letter below to his Provincial at the Chicago Province of the Society of Jesus. The document shows the convicted Jesuit child sex abuser worked as the chaplain to a British boys boarding school in Hamm, Germany in 1962. McGuire conducted retreats for children as young as 7-8 years old, boys 14-17 years old, soldiers serving abroad and engaged in hospital work.

Letter to Father Harvanek, P.C. (Scribd)

The boys boarding school mentioned is the Windsor Boys School, which existed in various forms under different names, but was located in Hamm, Germany in 1962 and educated the children of British troops stationed in the country during the Cold War. The school in its current form is scheduled to permanently close in 2013.

So where is the safest place to hide a child sex abuser? It is not a school for deaf children, but one would imagine that an all boys boarding school is the last place to assign an unsupervised sex abuser if one truly cared about the safety of children. In a predictable turn of events that exemplify the 50+ years of cover-up by the Society of Jesus and the Chicago Province, McGuire would flee the country and the police again as we will see in our next story.

This film from the time shows the Chapel, St. Boniface, and the school where Donald McGuire SJ was in 1962. One can see the similarity in the buildings with the picture above from 1963.

 

The other noteworthy name mentioned in the document is the visiting Cardinal Francis Spellman of New York, who has his own history. We wonder what he knew…

The Smiths perform ‘The Headmaster Ritual’
 

Belligerent ghouls 
Run Manchester schools 
Spineless swines 
Cemented minds 

Sir leads the troops 
Jealous of youth 
Same old suit since 1962 
He does the military two-step 
Down the nape of my neck 

I want to go home 
I don’t want to stay 
Give up education 
As a bad mistake 

Mid-week on the playing fields 
Sir thwacks you on the knees 
Knees you in the groin 
Elbow in the face 
Bruises bigger than dinner plates 

Spineless bastards all … 
Sir leads the troops 
Jealous of youth 
Same old jokes since 1902  

He does the military two-step 
Down the nape of my neck 
I want to go home 
I don’t want to stay 
Give up life 
As a bad mistake 

Please excuse me from gym 
I’ve got this terrible cold coming on 
He grabs and devours 
He kicks me in the showers 
Kicks me in the showers 
And he grabs and devours 

I want to go home 
I don’t want to stay..