EXCLUSIVE: Clancy Family Pastor Speaks

Oh, but look at this. So from the Holy Family Church in Duxbury, Massachusetts, where the Clancy's live. Father Bob is joining us. Father Robert Deion, pastor of Holy Family. This is unbelievable. Father Bob, welcome. Welcome to Hot Mikes. I thank you for coming on here. You're welcome. What do you make of this? First of all, I mean, you're in the Clancy's town. Do you know them? I do. Yes. I have gotten to know Lindsay very well. I mean, both of them since right after the tragedy. But yes, I'm in Duxbury now going to be visiting her at one o'clock this afternoon. You're going to be with Lindsay at one o'clock today? Yeah. How is she doing? After talking to Kevin Reddington, just informing me about this opportunity to connect with you, he said that she was pretty alarmed at what this Father Dan Rehill had put on TikTok. And I could understand why. Tell me, walk me through your as a as a Catholic priest who communicates and deciphers and connects, you know, with your parishioners, especially through incredibly difficult things like this. What would your message be? What is your message from the pulpit? Or do you not touch it? You know, I generally don't touch it. I mean, at the time of the tragedy in a year after we had memorial services really for the children, but also a prayer for the parents, grandparents all involved. And so the community understands my support of Lindsay, many of them, but I haven't really touched upon the particulars, particularly in connection with, you know, the court and all of that stuff. I didn't want any of that to interfere with in any way, any outcome of what happened in the trial. So I didn't want to kind of choose my pulpit as any forum to make comments about the trial. I mean, people feel different. There's very conservative religious people who can't get past the fact that lives were children's lives were taken, no matter what her psychiatric, what her what her mental capacity or state was, that the line is drawn there. What do you say to them and how do you listen to what they have to say and validate that and then get your point across? Well, I had a man actually, it was near the very beginning of the trial when I was there and I was outside the restroom with Mike Musgrove, Lindsay's dad. And this guy came over and he said, Father, you know, I'm a Catholic and I believe in sin, mortal sin. And how would you describe this in connection with that? Of course, it was brought up at the trial. And I said, you know, mortal sin, if you remember, is a good Catholic, needs to be serious matter, which this is sufficient reflection on what you're doing with full consent of your will. Any of those three aspects of mortal sin are not there. It may well be wrong, objectively speaking, but it is not subjectively in terms of culpability before God because you weren't in your right mind in this case. And so as wrong as it is in terms of taking any life, this woman can't be held responsible in a spiritual way for what was done when she wasn't in her right mind and didn't have full consent of her will if she was truly in her right mind. And do you chalk that up to all of the medications that she was on, scrambling her brain, discombobulating her? Do you see that is the voice of the devil? Does the voice of the devil come in at a time like that? How do you see it? No, I see that something natural, something, unfortunately, that happens in the course of biochemical hormonal changes and what that might do to a person's psyche can make one vulnerable. And the evil one, call it the devil, Satan or whatever, the evil one can take advantage of such vulnerability. We all have vulnerabilities, and in terms it can be taken advantage of in our own will to go ahead with what we may be tempted. But at the same time, it's not a direct possession or obsession by the devil in clinsy-clancy. It's just the unfortunate way that it unfolded. I mean, people of no faith may well have had, you know, circumstances where they have had thoughts of doing harm to their children or have had suicidal thoughts. I remember coming out of a hospital. I was anointed a young man, 30 years old. The mother came to the garage where I was leaving after praying over the son and said, you know, when I had him, I had thoughts of doing him harm. And my mom kind of sensed there was something going on, and she took the baby. But this occasioned her to share with me the phenomenon that she had. This is something that's based in, unfortunately, a psychological problem that happens. In this case, it seems biochemical, hormonal, and yes, compounded by the drugs and the inadequate treatments, consistent treatments to help her see herself through this terrible ordeal she was going through. You know, judge not, lest you be judged. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses. The role of a pastor in all of this, a priest in all of this, is to what? What would Christ have us do? Have mercy. Mercy. That's what we, yeah. Having mercy doesn't, you know, exonerate or make anything negative about what she did. It's wrong to take any life. Right. But it's the person, their culpability or lack of culpability. And in this case, it certainly wasn't fair because of what she was going through. I always say, who in their right mind would take the life of their child? There you go. Father Bob Dehan is the pastor at Holy Family Church in Duxbury, Massachusetts. He's Lindsay's pastor. He's seeing Lindsay Clancy today at one o'clock. First of all, please tell her hello from me. I can't imagine the hell on earth she's experiencing here. Can you give us a little insight into what kind of person she is or was, you know, before this all happened? I don't think it has changed her very person. She's going through a terrible depression and loss, grieving many things. Not only the loss of her children, the loss of her relationship with her husband, the loss of her livelihood, the loss of her home, the loss of her ability to walk about because she's paralyzed, and the loss of a lot of relationships that have been cut off or compromised because of this, you know. And so this person is going through hell, and she's doing the very best she can, admirably, a strong woman with great faith that is trying to just move on as best she can. In these circumstances, having to take one step at a time, hopefully to see a good outcome of what the judicial process entails. I remember the psychiatrist, Dr. Zeisel, he said she has bad days and she has worse days. Are there any moments where she can see some type of bright light or joy ahead? And does she talk to you about how she feels God is seeing her? Oh, we're talking about God a lot and understanding that's the very purpose why Jesus came. He came to give life, to give hope, to give mercy and forgiveness, to help us make a new beginning. Even when it wasn't for what you claim, she was not culpable, but yet he wants to bring healing and wholeness. And so that's a foundation of our faith. And I emphasize that a lot. In fact, when I was coming up to experience, you know, just having inspiration, I was praying the rosary in anticipation of our meeting. And I'm saying, how Lord might I convey how much you love her? And it's so true. And it's actually the Lord is close to the broken hearted. That's from one of the Psalms. And the Lord is truly very close to her. And she knows that. And she has great hope for the future because the Lord will see her through. Oh, my Lord. I mean, it's just a lot. Whether she goes, you know, whether she goes to a state psychiatric facility in the retrial or she goes to jail, you know, or whatever happens. I don't know that, I mean, there might not be joy, you know, ever again. And this brings you to her side. This is, I bet you see this as central to your mission as a pastor. Of all people who, from the very moment I heard about the tragedy, I first reached out to Patrick, and I saw him that next morning. And then I went to anoint her, but I said, of all the people who need God in their life at a time like this, it's at least my way of trying to help bring our faith, bring God's grace and love and mercy to bear on what they're dealing with. And there are no quick answers, but the Lord is with them and accompanies them in this. And that's what I've been trying to do continuously in my visits with Lindsay. You're not alone. The Lord is with you. And I said, when she was at Spalding Rehab, I said, wherever you might be, Lindsay, I'm going to track you down. I'll be there with you. Oh, Father Bob of Holy Family Church in Duxbury, Massachusetts. Do you visit with Patrick Clancy at all? He was a parishioner too. Yes, I did visit him a couple of times in New York City where he was living. That was maybe a year or two ago now. But mostly it's texts, you know, on significant dates of the children's birthdays or his own Easter and Christmas. So I'll text him and tell him I'm praying for him and thinking of him, you know, text back, but no real conversations. I mean, the last conversation was a year, year and a half ago. But I'm thinking of him as well and what he's going through, especially now when there's a lot of trolls out there that are conceiving these terrible scenarios about his involvement in this tragedy. Yeah. And you know him to be a good man. Oh. As well as Lindsay. Oh, sure. Yes. There's no doubt in my mind from the moment I spoke with him the next morning after the tragedy. It was so authentic, so real. He was numb. He didn't say much, but what he did say and, you know, and his mom reiterated, you know, he went to Boston College High School where I went and he was chosen as the man for others award. He was a person who really looked out for other people. So where was that award given that was in the church? That was a BC High, Boston College High School in Dorchester. A man for others award at BC High. Wow. Yes. Yeah. And when I was visiting with him in New York, he was leading around disabled people. He likes to run. He would be tethered to them to help them be able to jog and run like him. And I mean, that goes to show you an example of the kind of person. I don't know if I'm pushing too far, but I mean, some people say, well, you know, you're supposed to stay by in sickness and in health and she's deeply sick and he's gone and has a new life and all of that. And it's wrong to judge. And I have to say, I admit I maybe was a little judgy in the in the beginning. I couldn't imagine being in his shoes, but, you know, he has to she's her life is constricted no matter what. And his, you know, there's a there's an enviable part that he would be able to find something new and find joy in his life. I could see wasting 50 years in a hole of depression. And yet he just he moved forward. And I think, you know, for those who judge, what do you say? I'd say be careful of judging anyone in any. Yes, you know, he's doing what he believes to be right and good under the circumstances. Right. Nobody wants to be in his position to to, you know, have to know, have to make your own choice. But anyway, that that blasphemous preacher just texted me back. How can I help you? He said, or some say. Anyway, there's a conservative lane of Catholicism right there. And how do we find room right for everybody's? It's I feel like this world we live in, Father Bob, is it's black and white. You know, there's we people don't embrace the gray or the nuance. It's just this or it's that it's right or it's wrong. It's men versus women. It's us versus them. And it's just not reality in most things. And I'd love to see or hear you preach a sermon or or or a prayer on mercy, like you said, and and validate just understanding where people come from and having room for beliefs that feel antithetical to you. I think part of it, a good part of it is the fact that people are ignorant. And I don't mean that in a derogatory way. They don't understand the reality they're talking about. They don't take into consideration other aspects, and they're just looking at it in a narrow way. And that doesn't give room for the gray and the other parts of the whole story, which is really in terms of this priest that is just replied to you is a reflection of his lack of knowledge and understanding and jumping to conclusions and really, in turn, rallying a conservative element who are uninformed, who themselves don't know all of the facets of the whole picture. And so he's creating a false narrative that is really not true. Well, I thank you, Father Bob. I appreciate it. Jumping. You're in your car going somewhere, maybe off to Boston. I would assume you're seeing Lindsay in a half an hour. I'm actually I was at Wendy's when Kevin Reddington talked. I was out in the parking lot and I said, I got to go find some places kind of quiet. So if I'm going to be interviewed, I need to kind of get away from the highway. And no, I'm just getting a bite to eat before I go in to visit. The body's a temple. Father, you're at Wendy's right there getting a getting a bacon cheese. What are you getting? I'm very plain hamburger. People will laugh. Hold the everything. Where's the beef? Remember the where's the beef lady? Certainly do. Yeah, I remember using that in a homily, actually. The famous where's the beef homily? Will you send that to me? I want to hear it. I don't know. I'd be able to find it now. It was like in my first assignment. Father Bob Deegan, thank you so much. This is Patrick and Lindsay Clancy's pastor, their priest. And he's off to visit with Lindsay. And again, tell her that everybody in the chat here from the Hot Mics podcast says hello and that send her our love. OK, I certainly will. Big hug from me. Thank you. You're welcome.