Vermont Catholic school removes Bishop Marshall’s name
May 11, 2023
The Bishop John A. Marshall School in Morrisville, Vermont, is changing its name to All Saints Catholic Academy because of the sexual abuse of minors that took place under the bishop’s leadership.
Bishop Marshall led the state’s sole diocese, the Diocese of Burlington, from 1971 to 1991, when he became bishop of Springfield (MA). He died in 1994 at age of 66.
During his tenure in Vermont, Bishop Marshall welcomed a notorious abusive priest, Father Edward Paquette, into the Vermont diocese despite a warning from his previous bishop that he had sexually abused boys. He transferred another serial abuser, Father Alfred Willis, from parish to parish, where he continued to abuse boys.
Bishop Marshall also led the Vatican’s apostolic visitation of American seminaries (1981-87, papal letter). The visitation attracted criticism for turning a blind eye to problems in seminaries, including problems related to sexual morality.
In 2002, Pope St. John Paul II ordered a “new and serious” apostolic visitation of American seminaries—implying a realization in the Vatican that Bishop Marshall’s visitation was insufficiently serious. That second apostolic visitation issued its final report in 2008.
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