Appearing below are the top ten red
flags flying over the Pittsburgh diocese
which indicate that Fr. John Wellinger
was being a dysfunctional sex freak at
will, while Pittsburgh bishops Anthony
Philadelphia Inquest Bevilacqua and
Lavender Don Wuerl looked the oth-
er way:
of the Pittsburgh diocese and pastor of Holy Spirit Parish in West Mifflin, PA,
drugged a Univ of Pittsburgh student in an apartment that the victim shared
with his older brother, also a Pitt student.
According to the victim, he was knocked out for hours. When he awoke, he in-
tuitively called 911. After rushing downstairs, against the wishes of Fr Wellinger,
the teenage victim would meet the ambulance & the attending EMTs in the street.
The allegation of the rest of the event goes as follows:
The ambulance whisked away to Presbyterian University Hospital (now Univ
of Pittsburgh Medical Center; UPMC). Fr. Wellinger allegedly followed the
young victim to the hospital. Upon finding him in the emergency room, the vic-
tim requested to Wellinger that he find his nurse. The victim would explain to
the nurse that Wellinger was the man who had drugged him.
Wellinger was ushered out by the nurse. To the best of my knowledge police
were not notified; not even a security guard from the hospital. The victim was
not examined by a doctor. In other words, the entire event was covered-up.
The parents of the victim came to the hospital and took their son home. Fur-
thermore, I was told by then Clairton Public Safety Director William Scully,
in January of 1990, that a hospital worker, possibly a social worker, warned
the parents to not take on the Pittsburgh diocese, because they are too pow-
erful and wealthy.
Red Flag 2. Allegedly, a few days after the Red Flag #1 event, the victim’s
father searched out Wellinger at the parish house. At the time, Wellinger was
holding a parish council meeting. So, there were plenty of witnesses present,
including the victim’s mother. The victim’s father was angry, because Welling-
er had allegedly drugged his son and possibly raped and sodomized him. The
man was also angry over an outing that lasted all night long between Wellinger
and his wife.
Concerned for the safety of Fr. Wellinger, parish council members ushered the
priest out the back door and called the West Mifflin Police. Parish councils
were logically concerned, because the victim’s father may have been intoxi-
cated and carrying a weapon.
There was no evidence of any police report, but the father would receive no-
tification from the attorneys for the Diocese of Pittsburgh to stay away from
Father John Wellinger and to stay off Holy Spirit property in West Mifflin, PA.
Red Flag 3. An allegation was brought to my attention within the past year or
two, by a Catholic priest who stated to me via telephone that a person by the
last name of Volmer went to Father Charles Bober in 1987 and warned Bober
about Fr Wellinger’s deviant behavior. To the best of my knowledge, nothing
was done.
It should be noted that Bober is now a monsignor at Saint Killian’s Parish in
Mars, Pennsylvania. A gem of a parish that’s raising millions and millions of
dollars for a high school named after Cardinal Donald Wuerl. My guess is
that Bober was rewarded with this plum position for being a team player.
Covering-up for the crimes of Fr. John Wellinger would constitute being a
team player in the Pittsburgh diocese, it would logically seem.
Red Flag 4. Sometime in 1988, the personal secretary of Father Wellinger
went to the Pittsburgh diocese and spoke to Father Ronald Lengwin about
Wellinger’s deviant behavior. She also reported that a teenage boy used the
rectory as his home for the longest time and enjoyed making 900 calls to porn
sites, while costing the parish hundreds, if not thousands of dollars.
Sadly, the women whom I interviewed would be labeled as a rumor-monger,
and once again, Bishop Bevilacqua and his cast of merry men would err on
the side of dysfunctional sex freak, Fr John Wellinger, rather than erring on
the side of caution.
Red Flag 5. A suicide occurred in Father John Wellinger’s parish in 1989.
According to then Clairton Public Safety Director William Scully, the suicide
was linked to Wellinger. Scully said that he just didn’t have the needed proof.
The boy was a 16 year old who took a gun to his head and pulled the trigger.
According to Scully, the boy had an interest in the occult and Satanism. Well-
inger would hold a seminar on occult practic and Satanism months later. Was
the seminar a real concern of Wellinger’s or just another ruse to make it look
like he cared?
Sadly, there’s not much concern for PA children. When children turn up dead,
there’s no quick response – when compared to emergencies involving law en-
forcement personnel – when the call comes in on the police radio that an offi-
cer is down.
Red Flag 6. Coincidentally, in 1989, another teenage boy who was befriend-
ed by Father John Wellinger would also commit suicide with a gunshot blast to
his head. This boy served as an altar boy for Wellinger when he was a student
at St. Clare Elementary School (also known as Clairton Central Catholic.)
Wellinger was an assistant parish priest.
This young man would also try and kill a fellow student, my son. Similarly to
the 16 year old mentioned in Red Flag 5, this second suicide victim had a very
strong interest in the occult and Satanism. He and his friends carried the Satan-
ic Bible back and forth to classes at Serra Catholic High School, in McKees-
port, PA.
According to a Pennsylvania state trooper who was an expert in the occult and
Satanism, the young boy had an advanced knowledge on the topic. This con-
clusion was based on his findings when brought in, to investigate the case.
Red Flag 7. The attempted murder of my son, Adam on Serra Catholic High
School school ground, in McKeesport, PA, on December 5, 1989: At least
one investigating officer (then Clairton Public Safety Director William Scully)
would allege that the shooter (who committed suicide after he tried to kill my
son) was sexually abused by Father John Wellinger.
According to the former McKeesport Police Chief Tom Brletic, he stated
to me in a telephone conversation that Father Ronald Lenguin refused to al-
low investigating officers on Serra High School property for over 24 hours.
Obviously, the diocese needed to prepare their version of the crime and to
prevent police from doing a proper investigation. Clairton Public Safety Di-
rector William Scully would claim the entire investigation had been quashed.
Scully even provided details of Father John Wellinger drugging the teenager
mentioned in Red Flag 1.
More on the corruption of the city of McKeesport was in a copy of Scully’s
original notes. I was told that the paper can be tested and dated, as well be-
ing able to determinecwhen the message was written. If Scully knew about
Wellinger drugging a teenager, then who else knew? Why was nothing done?
Red Flag 8. Following the attempted murder of my son I spoke to a Sister
Dorothy Dolac, principal of St. Clare School in Clairton ,who lived on the
school premises when Father John Wellinger was an assistant priest in the
adjoining parish. She alleged that she notified Bishop Donald Wuerl about
my concerns of Fr. John Wellinger, as well as her own concerns. The boy
who tried to kill my son on the Serra Catholic High School bus was an al-
tar boy for Fr John Wellinger and also a student of Saint Clare Elementary
School. At the time, the school may have been called Clairton Central
Catholic.
When I talked to Sr. Dorothy about Fr, John Wellinger, I asked her if he
were capable of giving drugs and alcohol to underage teenagers. She an-
swered yes. When I asked if Wellinger were capable of sexually abusing
young boys, she answered yes. When I asked if she were aware of any of
Wellinger’s victims, she answered she couldn’t say. But, it did't seem that
she wasn’t aware of any victims. It seemed as if she had promised to keep
the information a secret.
Red Flag 9. In our family’s lawsuit against the Pittsburgh diocese, my attor-
ney’s first question, when deposing former Clairton Public Safety Director
William Scully, was what he knew about Fr John Wellinger sexually abusing
any students at Serra Catholic High School. The attorney immediately stood
up, pounded his fist on the table, and stated that, if this type of questioning did
not cease, the diocese would file the appropriate legal maneuvers.
My attorney’s question startled me, and the attorney for the Pittsburgh diocese
scared the hell out of me. In looking back, it might have been rehearsed and the-
atrical collusion between the diocese, my attorney, Brian Knowles, and the law
firm for whom he worked; Behrend and Ernesberger. I dropped the case,
then and there.
Instead of my attorney trying to calm me down and stating he would just rephrase
the question ... or at least take a break and explain to me that I had nothing to wor-
ry about ... he allowed me to walk out on what should have been a multimillion dol-
lar settlement. Lawyers, just like PA judges, are bought and sold, like stolen mer-
chandise on sale at an outdoor flea market.
Red Flag 9. I have literally published dozens of articles on Fr. John Wellinger
and the cover-ups involving the Pittsburgh diocese, as well as elected pennsyl-
vanian officials and PA law enforcement officers at all levels. My articles on
Father John Wellinger and Cardinal Donald “Lavender Don” Wuerl are pub-
lished on Bishop-Accountability. My editorials and comments have been pub-
lished in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Philadelphia Inquirer, and
other newspapers, magazines, websites, and blogs on an international level.
Local and national television producers, editors, writers and investigative re-
porters have sought my advice on the cover-ups in the Pittsburgh Diocese and
beyond for years. The same can be said for victims of clergy sex abuse, victims
of PA corruption, and their family members having recourse to me, for advice.
And how does the Pittsburgh Diocese respond? Well, according to a source,
the powers that be in the diocese allegedly allegedly allegedly did something
somewhat equivalent to posting a Mike Ference, Wanted, Dead or Alive
poster. This is proverbially speaking, of course. But, not absolutely proverb-
ial. It's something that a reasonable would find hard to believe, if what was
alleged to me is true.
Red Flag 10. In the Spring of 1991, I scheduled an appointment with Penn-
sylvania state trooper, Corporal Robert Griffin. I met Griffin at his training fa-
cility in the old St Joseph Seminary on Route 30 in Greensburg. I shared with
Griffin all of the information I had assembled, concerning the quashed investiga-
tion of the attempted murder of my son and all the information I had gathered
on John Wellinger.
Griffin applauded me for my efforts and then shared additional information about
the case. He counseled me on letting go, much like a friend would do. He also
arranged for me to meet with an Allegheny County detective who he knew had
investigated clergy sex abuse crimes, promising to contact West Mifflin police.
He wanted the West Mifflin Police to at least question Father John Wellinger
about some of my concerns.
In other words, a seasoned PA State Trooper with expertise in the occult and
Satanism took me seriously and even commended me for my investigative and
research skills. Now, only two people knew I were visiting with Griffin and
William Scully. Within a week, Father Wellinger would abruptly leave Holy
Spirit Parish in West Mifflin, PA. I have confirmation of this from Wellinger’s
former personal secretary.
Wellinger would leave on his own, only to be replaced by Father Valentine,
the alleged fixer, as expert witness and author Richard Sipe likes to call them.
For what it’s worth, Fr Valentine is in hiding somewhere. A story for another
day.
According to Scully and Wellinger’s former personal secretary, Fr. Wellinger
would spend some of his new-found free time in a McKees Rock Parish with
Father Richard Dorsch, according to several sources alleged to be Wellinger’s
lover from their days in the seminary.
Summary
According to Pittsburgh diocesan bishops Anthony Bevilacqua, Donald “The
Lavender One” Wuerl and diocesan spokesman Ron Lengwin, the first time
they ever caught wind of Father John Wellinger’s inappropriate behavior was
1995. Parents of Chris Mathews spoke directly to David Zubik, years before
he was a bishop, and complained about Wellinger sexually molesting their 11
year old son in 1989.
Whom do you believe, Mike Ference or a person with Bishop or Cardinal
before his name? Much more to come.
