Thomas Koch, the mayor of Quincy, Massachusetts, is under fire for blurting out on a radio talk show that the Catholic Church sexual-abuse crisis was a matter of “mostly homosexual issues, not pedophilia.”
Koch’s remarks, made on “NightSide with Dan Rea” on WBZ Radio, is just the latest controversy the mayor has jumped into, including a clearly unconstitutional plan to install two 10-foot statues of Catholic saints on public property at the city’s new public safety building (the subject of a New England Muzzle Award last May) and a 79% increase to his salary, from $159,000 to $285,000.
Adam Reilly of GBH News reports that Koch’s remarks on Dan Rea’s talk show came during a discussion of public antipathy toward religion, something that Koch and Rea both lamented. But when Rea brought up the “pedophile priest crisis,” Koch went off the rails. Reilly writes:
At that point Koch interjected, saying, “That was mostly homosexual issues, not pedophilia.” When Rea pushed back, saying there were lots of children and early teenagers who were impacted by abuse, Koch replied, “There were? Well, pedophilia’s a younger age than to me a teenager. But that’s another issue for another day. I [unintelligible] either at all, believe me.”
Reilly notes that Koch later apologized for his remarks:
Koch sent GBH News a statement after this article’s [initial] publication Thursday, saying that he had apologized directly to the local schools and LGBTQ+ community at a schools committee meeting Wednesday night. He said his comments were “ill-thought remarks” and he was caught off guard by the issue.
The incident prompted an editorial from the Boston Herald calling on Koch to resign (sub. req.), referring to his “insane lack of empathy,” adding:
On a basic human level, the mayor should be ashamed of himself. The crisis in the Catholic church will only truly heal when everyone acknowledges the institutional cancer that metastasized.
Meanwhile, Quincy voters will not have an opportunity to scale back Koch’s salary grab, which was approved earlier this year by the city council. Robert Bosworth reports for The Quincy Sun that a ballot measure to grant Koch a more modest 15% increase, to $183,000, fell short of the signature requirement. As a result, Simón Rios of WBUR observes, Koch will receive a higher salary than the mayors of Boston and New York City.
I awarded a Muzzle to Koch for pushing a plan to erect statues of two Catholic saints on public property after the ACLU of Massachusetts, Americans United for the Separation of Church and State, and the Freedom from Religion Foundation sued the city on the grounds that it would violate the First Amendment separation of church and state. As Peter Blandino reported (sub. req.) for The Patriot Ledger of Quincy:
The statues depict St. Michael and St. Florian, the patron saints of policed officers and firefighters respectively. Plans for the statues, which have already been paid for at the price of $850,000, were developed by Quincy Mayor Thomas Koch and a close circle of advisors without informing residents or city councilors.
According to earlier reporting by Blandino, the statues had been criticized by at least one member of the city council as well as some local religious organizations. The ACLU voiced its objections as far back as February. But that didn’t stop Koch, who has insisted that the statues represent bravery, courage and service rather than religious messages.
The case was heard earlier this month in Norfolk Superior Court, reports Neal Riley of WBZ-TV. A ruling is expected soon.
