A man has filed a lawsuit accusing the late Bishop Louis E. Gelineau, former head of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Providence, of sexually abusing him during the 1980s while he served as an altar boy at St. Luke’s Church in Barrington, Rhode Island. The lawsuit, submitted on Friday in Providence County Superior Court, also names two other priests, the Rev. Oscar Ferland and the Rev. Clifford J. Cabral, as perpetrators of abuse.
The plaintiff, identified as John Doe in court documents, alleges that abuse began shortly after he started serving as an altar boy under Ferland, who is listed by the diocese as a credibly accused clergy member with complaints dating back to 1964. According to the lawsuit, the abuse escalated from fondling to rape during Doe’s teenage years. Cabral, who died in 2023 and is not on the diocese’s list of accused clergy, is also accused of molesting the plaintiff on outings to Rocky Point Amusement Park.
Doe’s allegations against Gelineau, who died earlier this year at age 96, claim that the bishop sexually assaulted him violently on multiple occasions in Ferland’s bedroom. The lawsuit further contends that St. Luke’s served as a hub for a broader ring of pedophiles, with Gelineau playing a leading role. The former bishop oversaw the Providence Diocese from 1971 to 1997, during which time he managed 157 churches and 62 schools and exercised significant political influence, including opposition to gay-rights ordinances and involvement in the excommunication of a Planned Parenthood leader.
The complaint notes that Gelineau’s leadership included policies that prioritized confidentiality about abuse allegations, heavily emphasizing the seal of confession. This approach, critics argue, helped perpetuate a system where accused priests were quietly transferred between parishes or sent for treatment without public disclosure. A 2022 report from the Rhode Island Attorney General suggested that the diocese withheld documentation and failed to properly log reports of abuse, allowing misconduct to remain hidden for decades.
Doe said he remained silent for many years due to fear of backlash and the power of the Church but was emboldened to come forward following the release of the film “Spotlight” and the passage of a Rhode Island law expanding legal recourse for survivors of childhood sexual abuse.
The diocese declined to comment on the specific allegations but acknowledged ongoing challenges related to handling historical abuse claims. The plaintiff hopes the lawsuit will lead to greater accountability and systemic change within the Church.
This case is one of more than 100 lawsuits filed against the Providence Diocese since July, reflecting a broader reckoning with longstanding sexual abuse allegations within the institution.