A priest of the Diocese of Springfield is on leave after he dialed 911
asking for help getting out of handcuffs – a call that has been replayed
across the internet.
Diocesan spokeswoman Kathie Sass told CNA Jan. 10 that Father Tom
Donovan, pastor of St. Aloysius Church in Springfield, approached Bishop
Thomas Paprocki about the incident prior to Christmas and before it
attracted media attention.
Sass said the priest “asked for help and was granted leave to deal with
personal issues.” She added that he is “away from the parish.”
Sass told CNA that the police gave assistance to the priest. The police report indicated that there was no crime, she said.
Although the incident took place in November, it first drew widespread
media attention in early January. A recorded audio file of the priest’s
911 call published on the Illinois Times website has been played over
95,000 times.
In the phone call, which the priest made from the church early on the
morning of Nov. 28, he tells the 911 dispatcher he is stuck in a pair of
handcuffs and is the only one in his church. He said he feared a
medical emergency if he was not helped.
Police said the priest was wearing an orange jumpsuit and a mask with a
gag in his mouth, the St. Louis NBC affiliate KSDK reports.
“It's hard to see something happen to one of our priests and we
continue as a diocese, especially the parishes where Father Donovan
worked, continue to offer our prayers for his well being,” Sass told
KSDK.