Paul Edwards v. the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston and Michael Smith Foster

Text and facsimile of handwritten note from Ned Cassem to RCAB investigator Fr. Sean Connor about an affidavit Cassem filed in the case of Paul Edwards vs. Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston and Michael Smith Foster.

 

Although the memo mentioned in the note is missing from the Foster file, Connor seems to have written it after Edwards presented information in an interview with Connor that showed that negative reports on Edwards that had been published in the Boston Globe were based on false claims made by Foster’s supporters.

 The note was written on the letterhead of the Psychiatry Department of Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School.

10/17/02

 Dear Fr. Connor,

 I received your memo regarding our telephone conversation.  Your implication that the affidavit is fraudulent angers me.  I am not a liar.

 I never claimed to have interviewed Paul Edwards.  I provided an opinion based on information I received.  Nothing came to light (to me) to challenge my opinion and I stand by it.  Ms. Martin and Mr. Hermes prepared an affidavit based on phone conversations I had with Ms. Martin.  I am not an attorney and do not draft legal documents.  The document accurately states my opinion.  I would not have signed it if it did not.

 I will not verify your notes with my signature.  It angers me that your steadfast focus is on the wording and not the message.

 You are stuck on the wrong issue here—what are the FACTS, not what is the down and dirty truth.  You sounded like an enemy of Msgr. Foster.  In fact, you (by the music [?]) resented it when I called him “Msgr”—you can’t fool an old man here, Father.  I strongly suggest that you read yesterday’s gospel + Jesus’s comments about lawyers.

 Ned Cassem, SJ MD

Sean Connor's memo questioning the validity of Cassem's affidavit

Cassem's email to Deacon Anthony Rizutto falsely maligning Paul Edwards as a "felon."

Cardinal Law's remarks on Cassem being "brought in on the Foster case" in depositions taken by Roderick MacLeish at Greenburg Traurig

Investigative report in the Boston Herald

"Opinionated Jesuit psychiatrist loses confidence of peers," an article on Cassem from the Catholic News.