Buffalo Seminary Rector Steps Down Over Abuse Allegations

The man, who was in his 20s at the time of the encounter with Gatto, attests, "On one occasion he [Gatto] grabbed my knee in a suggestive manner, and invited me to a 'cabin' for a weekend with him alone. I declined, and ended any further communication."

Gatto claims he wasn't informed by the diocese of the complaint.

"I'm not aware of anything and I'm shocked," Gatto said. "Oh my Jesus, I'm shaking."

Gatto revealed, however, that he will be admitted to Southdown Institute, a psychiatric center in Toronto where the diocese sends priests who are credibly accused of sexual predation or who are dealing with other mental health issues. Gatto claims his leave of absence has nothing to do with allegations of sexual misconduct and is stepping aside owing to "pressures of the job" as well as "all the things that I've been doing."

In addition to Wednesday's complaint filed against Gatto, Church Militant has also learned that clerical and nonclerical sources within the diocese are affirming Gatto used his position as rector of the seminary to solicit homosexual favors from new applicants to the seminary. Sources say applicants who did not comply with Gatto's requests were not admitted to the seminary program.

This disturbing pattern of alleged homosexual screening of seminarians was repeated in the story Church Militant broke last month involving Gatto, who was heavily involved in a gay pipeline that recruited homosexual seminarians from Colombia to the United States.

Church Militant obtained a copy of a 1998 confidential internal memo between Gatto, then vice-rector of Buffalo's seminary, and Bp. Henry Mansell, then ordinary of Buffalo. In the memo, Gatto updates Mansell on the newest crop of nine seminarians from Colombia who had obtained their visas and a 10th who was still in process.

Church Militant contacted multiple seminarians who were at Buffalo's Christ the King Seminary at the time, and two of them told Church Militant that homosexuality at the seminary under Mansell and Gatto was rampant and that some of the Colombians were actually parcelled out to parish assignments with active homosexual pastors who lavished expensive gifts, including cars, on the young gay Colombians in exchange for sex.

Two of these former seminarians confirmed to Church Militant that they left the seminary under Gatto because they were disgusted with the openly homosexual current that dominated the institution.

One of these Colombian seminarians, Ricardo J. Perillo, told Church Militant that, in 1999, Gatto was aware of certain homosexual relationships between priests and seminarians and that nearly half of the Colombian seminarians in his class — personally recruited by Gatto for Bp. Mansell — were actively gay. Blowing the whistle to Gatto on the situation, Perillo said, only got himself expelled from the seminary.

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