Religion · Springfield, MA Metro · August 12, 2026
Lawsuit: Agawam Priest Groped Teen, Invoked Jesus; Diocese Named
What Alinsky tactic is being used
2 of the thirteen rules are in play here — campaigns rarely run just one.
Rule 4
“Make the enemy live up to its own book of rules.”
The suit's core is not just what one man did but that the diocese allegedly failed at the things it says on paper it does — investigate, report to civil authorities, and disclose. The plaintiff's lawyers are holding the institution to its own written child-protection commitments, and the diocese's 'declined to comment' is the sound of a body that has not yet closed the gap between its book of rules and its practice. This tactic bites only where the gap is genuine; here the reassignment of a priest to Miami-area parishes is exactly the fact that makes the gap arguable.
Counter-Rule 4 · Radical Integrity
Close the gap between stated values and actual practice before anyone else finds it. This tactic only works where the gap is real.
Do the audit before someone else does it for you: this month, ask your own parish or church office for the written safe-environment policy, the background-check policy, and the last date every volunteer with youth access was screened. Read them, and check one thing against reality — pick a current youth worker and ask when their check was run. If the paper says one thing and the practice is another, say so in writing to the pastor now, quietly and without accusation, while it is still an internal correction rather than a deposition exhibit.
Rule 1
“Power is not only what you have, but what the enemy thinks you have.”
Hundreds of Agawam parishioners signed on to lobby the bishop over Parzynski's move, and that show of numbers weighed on a personnel decision — while, per the complaint, no one outside a small circle knew what allegations existed. A petition's perceived force can substitute for a factual review, and a well-liked priest's popularity becomes the evidence of his innocence. The 'power' in the room was a headcount, not a finding.
Counter-Rule 1 · Reality Over Perception
Count the actual numbers. The phantom army depends on nobody checking whether it exists.
Before you sign a parish petition about any cleric, ask the one factual question: has a review been completed, by whom, and what did it conclude? Write the answer down, including 'no answer given.' If you are asked to vouch for someone, vouch only for what you have personally seen, and say plainly that you have no knowledge of any complaint file. Refuse to let a signature count as a verdict.
Chapter 3 sets out the rules; Chapter 15 answers each of them in turn. This is that pairing applied to this story.
Know where you stand
The free 4-minute assessment identifies your mountain and your institution’s capture phase — so alerts like this one arrive matched to where you actually stand.
Facing this yourself? Ask. Describe what is happening and get what the book, Scripture, and the law of your state say, with the exact words to use. Your first one is free.