HUDSON (MA)
MetroWest Daily News
By Carolyn Kessel / News Staff Writer
Thursday, December 18, 2003
HUDSON — The Rev. Thomas Curran, who was removed as pastor at St. Michael Parish last year after he was accused of sexually abusing a minor decades ago, has retired from his job.
Curran wrote a letter given to St. Michael parishioners last weekend, informing them he had resigned for health reasons. Curran, 57, came to Hudson in 1996 where he was known as “Father Tom” and remembered by a few church members as a good and respected man.
Curran and his lawyer, Russell B. Higley of Cambridge, have denied claims that he sexually abused a teenage boy in the 1970s at St. Mary’s Parish in Cambridge. Church documents detail an interview with a man now imprisoned for rape of a boy who claimed Curran raped him and introduced him to the Rev. Paul Shanley, who further abused him and encouraged him to prostitute himself.
Curran defended himself in his letter to his parishioners.
“Since the time I was falsely accused of sexual abuse, you have probably prayed for my return. For that I am most grateful. Now is the time to move on with our lives. St. Michael Parish is not served with an absentee pastor; you need a shepherd to guide you on your journey to God,” Curran wrote.
