Philip F. Lawler: Kudos to Archbishop Gregory; He 'Gets It'

Hats off to Archbishop Wilton Gregory for making a simple, sincere, manful apology when he realized that he had caused scandal by spending over $2 million on a new residence. 

The archbishop could have attacked his critics, saying that the complaints about his building plans were motivated by anti-Catholic bigotry. He could have tried to rationalize the plans, claiming that every expense was necessary for the work of the archdiocese. He could have argued that the expenses were covered by private donations and would not affect the archdiocesan budget. Or he could have stood on his authority, saying that he has the legal authority to spend funds as he sees fit. Sad to say, American bishops have used each one of these dodges to justify their spending in other cases. 

Read more at CatholicCulture.org >>

 

Yet Another Scandal Confronts America's Bishop of Bling; Myers Operates a For-Profit Business Without Paying Any Taxes

Darkness and Light: Newark Archbishops John J. Myers and Bernard Hebda

The Star-Ledger, which should receive a Papal medal for all the filth and corruption they have revealed in the Newark Archdiocese and on the part of its scandal-prone Archbishop, John J. Myers, reports that the Archdiocese has been operating a for-profit headstone and mausoleum business for 8 years without ever paying any state taxes.  

Myers' foray into the tax-free, for profit business world has threatened family owned businesses that have operated for decades.

Apparently, Myers does the for-profit thing far more skillfully than the non-profit.  He has closed 82 of the Archdiocese's schools and scores of parishes due to lack of funding, while building himself a country manor house replete with hot tubs, indoor and outdoor pools, elevators and multiple fireplaces.  When his spokesman (Myers doesn't speak with the media or the little people) is asked about the massive shutdown of schools and parishes, one is told that it is necessitated by "changing demographics."  What that frequently repeated euphemism means is that hundreds of thousands of souls, who were baptized in the faith and raised in Catholic homes and schools, no longer practice their faith because they are repulsed by one of the state's most notorious crime bosses, John J. Myers.

Having lived in the Newark Archdiocese for 10 years, your editor can attest to the truth "that where sin abounded, grace did more abound."  The Archdiocese has many, very holy, Christ-like priests who labor tirelessly in evangelizing and building the Kingdom of God.  There are also many groups and saintly individuals who persevere in their faith despite the corruption and often persecution by the one who should be their teacher, shepherd and sanctifier.  

If our Holy Father means what he says, it is time the Church in Newark had a leader worthy of her people and her founder.  Co-adjutor Archbishop Bernard Hebda is in place and ready to begin the rebuilding.

Opposition Mounts to Half Million Dollar Expansion of Bishop of Bling's Retirement Home

The corrupt, aloof and arrogant Bishop of Bling, Newark Archbishop John J. Myers, apparently didn't get the memo sent by numerous Popes, that his is a role of service to others, not to one's self, and that he is to build the Kingdom, not an empire.  

As we have noted many times, this corrupt thug deserves a prison cell, not a lordly manor.  If the Holy See wishes to restore the Church's moral authority and couple its words with action, they should remove this cancer on the Body of Christ.  If he can't find anything useful to do for anyone, he should return to his home diocese of Peoria and support himself -- in the splendid isolation he craves, and far from those he disdains.

A Church So Poor It Has to Close Schools, Yet So Rich It Can Build a Palace

The latest scandal from America's worst bishop

Abp. John J. Myers' retirement estate: a picture of rapacious greed, corruption and scandal

KEARNY, N.J. — Mater Dei Academy sits shuttered, blue drapes pulled across its windows, atop a hill in this working-class city. From its steps, you can peer across the mist-shrouded expanse of the Meadowlands to the distant spires of Manhattan.

For generations, this blond brick Catholic elementary school tossed a lifeline to the immigrants who, wave upon wave, washed ashore here. The Archdiocese of Newark closed it two years ago. Church officials offered deep regrets; the church’s wallet is thin to the touch these days.

“It was a loved place, that school,” said Dorothy Gawronski, a crossing guard holding a red “Stop” sign. “But the church, I don’t think it’s rich anymore.”

All of which brings me along a winding and narrow road that switches back and forth across the wooded Capoolong Creek to a splendid 8.5-acre spread in the hamlet of Pittstown. This is rural and rather affluent Hunterdon County, 49 miles from Mater Dei. 

John J. Myers, the archbishop of the Newark Archdiocese, comes to this vacation home on many weekends. The 4,500-square-foot home has a handsome amoeba-shaped swimming pool out back. And as he’s 72, and retirement beckons in two years, he has renovations in mind. A small army of workers are framing a 3,000-square-foot addition. 

Read more at The New York Times >>

The Scandal Within Catholic Relief Services

By Judie Brown

Catholic Relief Services’ history is not a pretty one, so the most recent news really comes as no surprise. 

President Barack Obama has appointed one of his former donors, Ken Hackett, to represent our nation as ambassador to the Vatican. Hackett is the immediate past president of Catholic Relief Services; he served in that post for 40 years.

Thinking about the irony of this connection between Obama and Catholic Relief Services begs the question: How can a Catholic charity align itself with the president of the United States? This is a man whose commitment to abortion, same-sex marriage, and contraception for teens—to name but a few of his policy choices—is a matter of record. The answer is that apparently CRS and its leadership prefer alliances with the government and the taxpayer dole to stalwartly defending Catholic truth.

Catholic Relief Services Gave Over $13 Million to Pro-Abortion Group in 2012

As the U.S. Bishops’ development agency was taking heat last summer for handing out over $5 million to the abortion-supporting group CARE, they were in the midst of giving a total of $13.8 million in grants to the same pro-abortion group during 2012, according to its recently-published IRS filings. 

While CARE claims it “does not fund, support or perform abortions,” in 2009 its president and CEO, Helene Gayle, appeared before a Senate committee to urge the funding of abortions abroad by overturning the Mexico City Policy. CARE also heavily distributes contraceptives, including the abortifacient “emergency contraception,” as part of its development efforts.  Moreover, it partners with the illegal-abortion practitioner Marie Stopes International.

Read more at LifeSiteNews >> 

Archdiocese of Newark: One Resignation Submitted, One Still Needed

A Bad Shepherd: Archbishop John J. Myers

Archbishop John J. Myers probably thinks he's off the hook with the (forced?) resignation of Father Michael Fugee.  But as with another arrogant, corrupt American churchman, Cardinal Law, Myers is going to find it impossible to appear in public or say Mass in his own cathedral.  He's also going to find that Catholic school enrollments will drop and Sunday collections will dry up.  If he has any shred of decency, he will submit the resignation that the overwhelming number of Catholics in New Jersey and throughout the United States are demanding.  

You've wreaked ruin and destruction, Archbishop.  For God's sake, GO!

Call the Archdiocese of Newark and let Myers know what you think:  973-497-4000.

His spokesman, James Goodness, can be E-mailed at: goodneja@rcan.org

The Pope's representative to the United States, Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò, can be reached at 202-333-7121.

Priest at center of Newark Archdiocese scandal quits ministry

The Roman Catholic priest at the center of a public furor enveloping Newark Archbishop John J. Myers has resigned from ministry, a spokesman for the archdiocese said tonight.

The Rev. Michael Fugee, who attended youth retreats and heard confessions from minors in defiance of a lifetime ban on such behavior, submitted his request to leave ministry this afternoon, said the spokesman, Jim Goodness. Myers promptly accepted the resignation, Goodness said.

Fugee, 52, remains a priest but no longer has authority to say Mass, perform sacramental work or represent himself as an active priest, Goodness said. It was not immediately clear if Fugee or Myers would petition the Vatican to remove him from the priesthood altogether, a process known as laicization.

Asked if Myers had requested that Fugee step aside, Goodness said, “I only know that he offered to leave ministry and the archbishop accepted.”

Under terms of a 2007 agreement with the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office, Fugee is not permitted to have unsupervised contact with children, minister to children or hold any position in which children are involved.

Read more at the Star-Ledger >>

 

New Jersey Legislators Demand Archbishop's Resignation; Call Myers' Behavior "Sickening"

"And see if there are any vacant basilicas in Rome where I can hideout like Cardinal Law"

Greeting the deepest crisis of his 12-year tenure with silence, Newark Archbishop John J. Myers faced new calls for his resignation yesterday from two New Jersey lawmakers, who blasted him for allowing a priest to minister to children despite a lifetime ban on such interaction.

Sen. Joseph Vitale (D-Middlesex) and Assemblywoman Valerie Vainieri Huttle (D-Bergen) said the archbishop has displayed "arrogance" and a lack of common sense over his handling of the Rev. Michael Fugee, 52, who admitted fondling a 14-year-boy in 2001.

Under the terms of a binding agreement with authorities six years later, Fugee and the archdiocese vowed the priest would not work in any position involving children.

Yet for the past several years, Fugee has attended youth retreats, heard confessions from minors in private rooms and traveled to Canada with children from a Monmouth County parish, The Star-Ledger reported earlier this week.

"Enough is enough," said Vitale, who has pushed for laws that aid victims of sexual abuse. "Based on everything that’s happened, not just in New Jersey but around the country and the world, you have to follow the spirit of the law, and they have not done that in this case. Zero tolerance is zero tolerance."

Read more at the Star-Ledger >>

Furor Grows Over Newark Archbishop's Stance On Priest Banned From Ministry With Children

Amid calls for a Vatican investigation, Newark Archbishop John J. Myers came under fierce criticism Monday for his handling of a priest who attended youth retreats and heard confessions from minors in defiance of a lifetime ban on ministry to children.

Child Abuse Enabler Abp. John J. Myers

At the Monmouth County church where the Rev. Michael Fugee had been spending time with a youth group, angry parishioners said they were never told about Fugee’s background and they questioned Myers’ defense of the priest, the subject of a lengthy story in the Sunday Star-Ledger.

"It’s complete craziness that the church can let this happen," said John Santulli, 38, a father of two at St. Mary Parish in Colts Neck. "I’m a softball coach, and I need a background check just to get on the field. Every single person I spoke to today said, ‘Oh my God. I didn’t know about this.’ It’s incomprehensible."

What a hoot! Rev. Fugee has fun with children.

Trenton Bishop David M. O’Connell, who previously said Fugee was operating in the diocese without his knowledge or permission, has ordered the pastor of St. Mary to bar the priest from any church activities, a spokeswoman said in a statement Monday.

The bishop of Paterson, Arthur Serratelli, has likewise said Fugee was on a retreat at Lake Hopatcong without permission.

For the first time in his many years as an advocate for victims of clergy sex abuse, Mark Crawford, New Jersey director of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, called on the archbishop to resign, characterizing Fugee as the latest in a string of problem priests shielded by Myers.

Read more at The Star-Ledger >>

America's Worst Bishop Must Go!

"Myers has shown a pattern of leniency toward pedophiles, indifference to potential victims, and a haughty disdain for those who dare to question his judgment."

New Jersey's largest newspaper today called for the resignation of the Archbishop of Newark, John J. Myers  (full text below).

John J. Myers, the corrupt Archbishop of Newark

I had my own experience with the pompous and arrogant Archbishop of Newark over a decade ago, and when time permits I will tell that story.  

He has been at war with the people he should have been serving almost since the day he arrived in Newark.  I have seen this day coming for a long time, but it is regrettable that so much damage has been done in more than a decade.  Scores of schools in the Archdiocese of Newark have been closed because Archbishop Myers has demonstrated, again and again, that he will only stand up for the well-being of clergy.  Indeed, he has been criminally negligent in ensuring the safety and well-being of New Jersey families and their children.  As a good friend put it, "he's thoroughly a company man, working for Clerical Worker's Local #417 rather than for the people."  It is a pattern that developed prior to his appointment to Newark when he was Bishop of Peoria.  Even then he made excuses for the buggery of children and attempted to reinstate a priest suspended for child sexual abuse.  He refused to meet with the priest's victims, and when families finally expressed their outrage through the media, Myers commented that he "didn't realize they would be so upset."  In virtually any field of endeavor, it would be hard to find anyone more insensitive and with a worse sense of public relations.
 

Some will say in defense of Archbishop Myers that he is a "conservative" or that he is "orthodox."  I would respond that his is a sort of orthodoxy and  conservatism that does irreparable damage and impedes the work of truly faithful, orthodox churchmen striving to build up the Body of Christ.  

If Pope Francis intends to carry forward Pope Benedict's efforts to purge the Church of its "filth," the corrupt and destructive Archbishop of Newark should be the first to go.  Eventually, the legal system will prosecute and convict this thug for criminal conspiracy and negligence, but it would be a hopeful sign if Church authorities deal with the very worst of corrupt, American bishops first. 

From The Star-Ledger Editorial Board

After all the Catholic Church has been through, it is beyond infuriating that Newark Archbishop John J. Myers can be so neglectful of his duty to protect children from sexual predators. 

He should resign immediately and apologize to the families whose children he left exposed, barring some stunning new disclosure that could exonerate him in the face of the damning facts presented by The Star-Ledger’s Mark Mueller in today’s edition.

The case concerns Michael Fugee, a priest who was convicted in a sexual abuse case in 2003 after he confessed to fondling a 14-year-old boy, and being a compulsive masturbator obsessed with penis size.

The conviction was overturned when a higher court found the judge had given improper instructions to jurors. Instead of trying Fugee again, as they should have, prosecutors allowed him to avoid jail by joining a program for first-offenders.

Part of the deal was an agreement that Fugee signed, along with the archdiocese, committing all parties to keeping Fugee away from minors.

Fugee was not to work in any position involving children, or have any affiliation with youth groups. He could not attend youth retreats, or even hear the confessions of children.

With the full knowledge and approval of Myers, Fugee did all of those things. Look at the picture of him clowning around with children in today’s paper, and it makes you want to scream a warning. The agreement was designed to prevent exactly that.

This is not the first time Myers has shown contempt for the safety of children in his flock. While many bishops are making a sincere efforts to rehabilitate the church, Myers has shown a pattern of leniency toward pedophiles, indifference to potential victims, and a haughty disdain for those who dare to question his judgment.

Before this latest flare-up with Fugee, Myers had promoted him to an influential position in the church as co-director of the office that helps guide young priests, sending precisely the wrong message. Earlier this year, Fugee was found to be saying Mass and living at the rectory of a church in Rochelle Park. Parishioners had not been told of his criminal past, so again, children were exposed. In 2009, Myers appointed Fugee chaplain of St. Michael’s Medical Center in Newark, again without telling the hospital about Fugee’s restrictions.

Unlike some other bishops, Myers will not release the names of priests who have been credibly accused of abuse. 

In 2004, he wrote a letter of recommendation to six dioceses in Florida for one priest, a week after learning the priest had been accused of assaulting a woman after breaking into her house. The same year, he banned one priest from public ministry after investigating an allegation that he had abused a boy, but did not notify laypeople or other priests. In 2007, he did not tell laypeople about a credible finding of molestation against a priest working in Elizabeth and Jersey City, information that was finally turned up by a victims’ group.

Fugee is, or at least was, the real danger. He seems to think he can break the rules. It is Myers’ job to stop him, and he is instead enabling him.

He is refusing to discuss any of this. Our hope is the prosecutors press him to do so. He is a part to the agreement on Fugee, which was signed by the archdiocese’s vicar general on behalf of Myers, and which has clearly been broken.

In the meantime, for the sake of the children, Myers should step down.

John Allen: Benedict's 'Quiet Revolution'

From The National Catholic Reporter

By John L. Allen, Jr.

A funny thing has happened as the story of a recent Vatican crackdown on a legendary monastery in Rome has made its way into the English-language press. I mean that literally -- the story has been turned into a joke, thereby obscuring its real significance.

For those with eyes to see, the suppression of the Cistercian abbey at the Basilica of the Holy Cross in Jerusalem, one of the traditional seven major pilgrimage sites in Rome, rates far more than placement in a "news of the weird" column. Instead, it's the latest chapter in what might be called a "Quiet Revolution" under Pope Benedict XVI, referring to a reform in clerical culture beginning in Rome and radiating beyond.

Diocese of Charleston: Shepherds vs. Wolves

The supporters of the culture of death and its champion, Barack Hussein Obama, have taken great delight in Monsignor Martin Laughlin’s repudiation of Father Jay Scott Newman’s statement that "voting for a pro-abortion politician when a plausible pro-life alternative exists constitutes material cooperation with intrinsic evil.”

Father Newman acted as a courageous shepherd of souls, knowing that his remarks would be misunderstood and ridiculed by many, but as an alter Christus and good shepherd he was obliged to speak out on behalf of those entrusted to his care. Father Newman has an international reputation as a scholar and homilist and his parish has a national reputation for its beautiful, reverent liturgies. Father Newman and his parish have won many converts to the faith – people who see in this courageous pastor someone whose life is totally dedicated to Jesus Christ and who is ready to “lay down his life for his friends.”

The sensus fidei of Catholics across the Internet is overwhelmingly in support of Father Newman. Faithful Catholics recognize the enormous charity inherent in Father Newman’s remarks. Here is a man willing to jeopardize his standing in the Church, his good name, and endure public ridicule for the sake of the souls entrusted to his care and their eternal salvation.

As the story below indicates, even Monsignor Laughlin and his spokesperson were supporting Father Newman just a few days ago. What happened in the interim? Could the Diocese have received a phone call from a Cardinal or an Archbishop, or perhaps many messages from the many bishops who have been too cowardly to speak clearly and forcefully on the greatest moral issue of our day? The ones who routinely make equivocal statements so as to not jeopardize what they care about most, the almighty dollar. The ones who politely applauded when, just this past year, the Holy Father exhorted:

“it falls to you (the bishops) to ensure that the moral formation provided at every level of ecclesial life reflects the authentic teaching of the Gospel of life.”

How should we weigh Monsignor Laughlin’s contradictory statements against the clear pastoral teaching of Father Newman? Like Father Newman, Monsignor Laughlin is a pastor who is the temporary administrator of the Diocese. He is the apparatchik of a diocese that has had 45 allegations of sexual abuse, paid $2,546,000 for settlements, and $646,000 for counseling and legal fees.

As Philip Lawler points out in his superb book, The Faithful Departed, 'Only a small minority of American priests — 2–3 percent, by most calculations — were ever accused of sexual abuse, whereas the vast majority of bishops were involved in the cover-up efforts.”

Monsignor Laughlin has quickly accommodated himself to a culture that puts institutional interests above the people it should serve. He talks about diverting “the focus from the Church’s clear position against abortion,” but given the delight that the pro-aborts are taking in his latest statement, what pro-abortion Catholic won’t feel justified in voting for pro-abortion candidates now that Father Newman’s clear statement has been contradicted? According to Monsignor Laughlin, lay Catholics are free to act as their individual consciences dictate, but their pastor is not.

Recent history has made painfully clear that wolves have frequently found their way to positions of authority in the Catholic Church. Fortunately, the great outpouring of support for Father Jay Scott Newman proves that most faithful Catholics know their shepherds from the wolves.