By Nehru Odeh
Father Mark Hession, aka Father Mark, a Massachusetts Catholic priest who gave the homily before four US presidents, Jimmy Carter, George W. Bush, Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, has been indicted by a secret grand jury on rape charges.
Hession, who is widely praised for his words, has been charged with “two counts of rape, one count of indecent assault and battery on a child under age 14, and one count of intimidation of a witness.
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The priest, a former pastor at Our Lady of Victory Church in Centreville, Massachusetts where many of the Kennedys worshipped wasn’t only close to the Kennedy family, he gave the homily at the funeral of Senator Edward Kennedy.
He stated in his homily in 2009 in words directed at the Kennedy family.
“We gather today as a community drawn from across the nation to entrust the life of Senator Edward Kennedy into the hands of God, and to provide you consolation and support.
We bring with us treasured memories of Ted Kennedy, memories not only of a national leader, and a master legislator but of a beloved husband, a great father, a terrific grandfather, a sweet uncle, a dear friend, a trusted colleague, a wise mentor.”
However, he was placed on leave from active priestly ministry in 2019 after adult parishioners of Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Seekonk complained he was communicating inappropriately.
The diocese statement said he had been deprived of ministry “because of conduct inconsistent with standards of ministerial behavior and in direct violation of the Code of Conduct for priests.”