Quincy mayor apologizes after fierce backlash over Catholic Church abuse comments

Local News

Quincy Mayor Thomas Koch said in a radio interview that the clergy sex abuse scandal “was mostly homosexual issues, not pedophilia.”

Quincy Mayor Thomas Koch faced public outcry and apologized this week after making comments about the Catholic Church’s child sexual abuse scandal during a radio interview. 

Koch’s comments came during a Sept. 22 appearance on WBZ News Radio’s “Nightside with Dan Rea.” Koch was brought on to discuss a lawsuit the city is facing over a plan to erect statues of St. Michael and St. Florian in front of a new public safety building. 

As the conversation turned to the clergy sex abuse scandal, Rea criticized the response from the Catholic Church’s leadership. 

“That was mostly homosexual issues, not pedophilia,” Koch replied. 

Rea responded by saying that a lot of children were impacted. Koch agreed, but then said that pedophilia related to atraction to “a younger age” than a teenager. 

Koch stressed that abuse and pedophilia is wrong in any circumstance. He also criticized how the scandal was reported in the local media. 

“The church was not very popular with the secular media,” he said. “They took a beating. You don’t read about it everyday when it happens around the country in other circumstances. It’s bad and evil in any circumstance, but I don’t believe the media treats it equally in the various situations where it happens.”

In a statement to Boston.com, Koch confirmed that he apologized for his “ill-thought remarks” directly to the city’s “gay community” and its “schools community” during a School Committee meeting on Wednesday. 

“I am sincerely sorry. I was not prepared for the question and tried to make a larger point about sexual abuse across all segments of society — regardless of sexuality or any particular institution. But that’s beside the point — I know better and will do better. I am proud of my faith, and the essence of that faith is to love one another and not judge — my words failed that standard here,” the mayor said in a statement. 

The backlash built almost immediately, with LGBTQ advocates, survivors of sexual abuse, and Quincy officials denouncing Koch’s comments. City Councilor Richard Ash, who is also the president of Quincy Pride, said that he was “deeply concerned” by the remarks and called on Koch to apologize. Quincy Pride is working to combat “rhetoric that is harmful to our community,” he said. 

“Mayor Koch and his Administration financially support Quincy Pride each year, and it was nice to see him at our Festival this past June. I am hopeful to engage in a meaningful discussion about the interview,” Ash said in a statement. 

Quincy’s LGBTQ Commission said in a statement of its own that it shared the concerns outlined by Ash. 

“The remarks were ill-considered and painful to many.  We hope that in the coming days, the Mayor will find a way to make this right and to assuage the suffering he has caused,” the commission said. 

The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests said in a statement that it was “appalled” by Koch’s words and that they “serve to scapegoat gay men” while ignoring any girl or woman who was abused by a clergy member. 

Mitchell Garabedian, a high profile attorney who has represented many victims of the sex abuse scandal, also sharply criticized Koch. 

“For the Mayor of Quincy to blame mostly homosexual issues for the Catholic Church scandal is baseless, ill-advised and harmful to victims or survivors,” he said in a statement. “After my review over the decades of thousands of Catholic Church documents involving childhood clergy sexual abuse, I have discovered no evidence to support the Mayor’s assertion. Such a statement contradicts the evidence and is disrespectful to courageous clergy sexual abuse victims.”

Despite Koch’s apology, anger was still widespread on Friday. An editorial in The Boston Herald called for Koch to resign. On Reddit, dozens of social media users continued to voice their confusion and anger at the mayor. 

“Please send this to all Quincy representatives, this is absolutely shameful and should be confronted immediately,” one user wrote.