Deposition of Witness A - former priest assigned with Kelly
Date of Deposition: January 29, 2007

 Deposition of Witness A Vol. 1 (1-29-07)

The deposition transcript redactions are necessitated by a protective order sought and obtained by the Archbishop and his lawyers during the coordination proceeding. The following summary identifies by page and line number key portions of deposition testimony that would have been utilized had the Father Kelly cases proceeded to trial.

Priest Witness A lived with Father Kelly twice at Our Lady of Guadalupe. The first time was when Priest Witness A was a priest candidate/seminarian at St. John's Seminary in Camarillo. Because Priest Witness A was from Spain and had no family in the U.S., and because he was friends with Father Kelly's associate pastor – Priest Witness B – Priest Witness A spent his summer breaks and holidays (Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter) at Our Lady of Guadalupe beginning in November of 1958. See Depo page 33, line 14; page 26, line 20. This continued until Priest Witness A graduated from St. John's in 1961.

After being ordained in 1961, Priest Witness A was assigned to be Father Kelly's Associate Pastor in 1968. Priest Witness A lived with Kelly until 1969 when he complained to Cardinal Timothy Manning about Kelly, and ultimately took a leave of absence for the priesthood after Manning's response, never to return. Thus, Priest Witness A was intimately familiar with life with Father Kelly at Our Lady of Guadalupe.

Priest Witness A recalls he became aware of teenage boys coming and going with Kelly almost immediately during his first overnight stay at Our Lady of Guadalupe in November of 1958. Depo Page 85, line 10; page 91, line 6. He recalls also becoming aware at this time of tension between the housekeeper and the parish secretary and Father Kelly, and recalls they both would become angry upon seeing Kelly in the company of the teenage boys. Depo page 94, line 16. The boys were bold enough to walk right in through the front door of the rectory. Depo page 128, line 19. Kelly sometimes took the parish secretary's teenage son upstairs with him, and she hated Kelly. Depo page 118, line 15. The housekeeper described Kelly as evil. Depo page 62, line 24; page 94, line 16. They also would make angry comments when he left with the boys, saying things such as "there he goes again," and commenting on Kelly taking boys to the cabin. Depo page 86, line 16; page 88, line 21. Kelly only took boys to the cabin, a fact which was common knowledge at the parish. Depo page 91, line 6; page 237, line 23. Sometimes the trips to the cabin were daytrips; sometimes they were overnight. Depo page 132, line 17. The housekeeper sometimes would refer to Kelly going to the "damn cabin," describing such conduct as "awful." Depo page 134, line 1. Priest Witness A recalls repeatedly seeing Mexican boys getting into Father Kelly's car, and that the boys would sometimes say they were going to the mountain. Depo page 236, line 9.

At this same time Priest Witness B, Kelly's associate pastor at the time (1958-60), told Priest Witness A he was aware of Kelly taking boys to the cabin, but just didn't want to get involved. Depo page 92, line 16 (Priest Witness B is the same associate pastor that two boys - John Roe 1 and Lay Witness C – testified they told in 1958 that Kelly was sexually abusing boys). Priest Witness A testified he believed Priest Witness B knew something was wrong at the time other than Kelly's alcoholism, and that Priest Witness B had told him to just be patient with Kelly and try pay attention to other things. Depo page 93, line 21. During this time Priest Witness A also tried to talk with another group about priests about Kelly's conduct, but recalls he got nowhere as discussing such subject matter was taboo. Depo page 96, line 19. Also during this 1958-60 timeframe Priest Witness A recalls he would see Kelly with teenage boys in his car on a weekly basis. Depo page 103, line 3.

When Priest Witness A was assigned with Kelly in 1968, he was shocked and dismayed to find that nothing had changed since he stopped spending his holidays and summer breaks at Our Lady in 1961. The priest he was replacing, Priest Witness D, told Priest Witness A he had problems with Kelly because Kelly was a drunk and was taking boys to the cabin and to Kelly's room in the rectory. Depo page 111, line 3. Priest Witness D also told Priest Witness A he had complained to Cardinal Manning about Kelly. Depo page 167, line 12. In January of this year, this same priest, Priest Witness D, testified under oath as to how wonderful life was with Kelly and how he had no problems with Kelly. The Archbishop then sent Priest Witness D to attend Priest Witness A's deposition in an apparent attempt to try and intimidate Priest Witness A. Priest Witness D's presence is first noted at page 2, line 12, with repeated references to his presence throughout the transcript.

Similarly, Priest Witness A spoke to another former associate pastor of Kelly's, Priest Witness E, who also told Priest Witness A he could not stand Kelly because of Kelly's drinking and taking boys to the cabin and to Kelly's room in the rectory. Depo page 113, line 2.

Also during 1968-69, Priest Witness A heard Priest Witness F, another associate pastor, fighting with Kelly about his drinking and about Kelly allowing teenage boys upstairs into his living quarters in the rectory. Depo page 123, line 2; page 262, line 18; page 274, line 20.

Finally, in 1969, Priest Witness A could no longer tolerate Kelly's conduct and complained to Cardinal Manning himself. Depo page 174, line 4. Priest Witness A told Manning about Kelly's drinking problems, and about Kelly taking boys into his living quarters and to the cabin. He also told Manning he had observed such conduct by Kelly since he (Priest Witness A) was a student back in 1958. Depo page 180, line 17. Manning's response was that if he got rid of every alcoholic or mentally ill or demented priest in the Archdiocese, half of the Archdiocese parishes would be without priests. Depo page 176, line 1; page 180, line 1; page 181, line 10. Manning also acknowledged that other priests had complained about Kelly. Depo page 233, line 5. So upset was Priest Witness A by this response he told Manning he was quitting. Depo page 181, line 21.

It is also worth noting that Priest Witness A acknowledge having studied the Doctrine of Mental Reservation while a seminarian. Depo page 210, line 7. This doctrine is intended to be used by priests to protect the church from scandal, and allows them to lie to do so. Priest Witness B, the priest who could not recall two boys telling him in 1958 that Father Kelly was abusing children, admitted under oath that it would be "pretty stupid" to admit he had invoked the doctrine during his deposition if he had done so, implicitly acknowledging his willingness to violate his civil oath to tell the truth in order to protect the Archbishop.