Conviction Christian institutions & contexts Catholic Little Meadows, PA, USA · 2011

Philip Ferrara: Melkite Greek Catholic priest convicted after using a retreat house to assault a boy

Record class

Core record

Evidence status

Convicted

Authority role

priest, Melkite Greek-Catholic Eparchy of Newton, founder/director, Our Lady of Solitude retreat house, Little Meadows, Pennsylvania

Organization

Melkite Greek-Catholic Eparchy of Newton, Our Lady of Solitude retreat house / Society of the Annunciation of Our Lord

Spiritual nexus

Ferrara, a Melkite priest, founded and ran a retreat house in rural Pennsylvania where he isolated a 14-year-old boy and, under the pretext of a religious retreat, directed the boy to give him oil massages during which the assaults occurred. His clerical status and control of the retreat property were what put the boy alone with him.

Pastoral or clerical authority
Spiritual healing or treatment

Evidence structure

Proceedings

2011-10-01 · no-contest plea and sentence

Susquehanna County Court of Common Pleas, Pennsylvania. Ferrara pleaded no contest to indecent assault and corruption of minors. In October 2011 the court sentenced him to six months to two years in state prison plus a fine.

Documented coercion mechanisms

priestly authority exercised at a retreat house he founded and ran
isolation of the victim at the retreat property
religious framing (retreat setting) used to obtain physical contact under pretext of massage

Primary record

Sources

press criminal charge report Greek Reporter, 'Melkite Greek Catholic Priest Charged with Indecent Assault and Corruption' (Oct. 21, 2011).: Reports the charges, the retreat-house setting at Lake O'Meadows Road, the oil-massage pretext, and the priest's Melkite Greek Catholic affiliation.
legal case summary criminal disposition corroboration Horowitz Law, 'Fr. Philip Ferrara – Diocese of Scranton' (attorney case summary, citing Times-Tribune reporting).: Summarizes Ferrara's Melkite Eparchy of Newton membership, his founding of the Society of the Annunciation of Our Lord retreat with Diocese of Scranton permission, the March 2011 arrest, no-contest plea, and 6-month-to-2-year sentence.
accountability database corroboration BishopAccountability.org, 'Fr. Philip Ferrara' accused-clergy database entry.: Independent accountability-database corroboration of Ferrara's identity, Melkite affiliation, retreat house, charges and disposition, and his listing in the 2018 Pennsylvania 40th statewide grand jury report.

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