VA priest defrocked for whistleblowing

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The following article is disturbing and contains sexually explicit descriptions of immoral priests. Read at your own risk.

dailycatholic.org/issue/2003Feb/febfor1.htm#ednotes

I’ve only been in the Arlington diocese for a short time and was not aware of this story or Fr. Haley. Does anyone have any insight or know of this case and the details? I thought our bishop was a pretty orthodox guy…now I’m not so sure. 😦

It disturbs me greatly that a priest with integrity and courage to do the right thing is being punished. Is this the type of reaction we can expect from bishops who are informed that major problems exist in their diocese? This bishop certainly appears to support the “don’t ask, don’t tell” mentality which I feel is part of the problem in our church.
 
DVIN CKS:
The following article is disturbing and contains sexually explicit descriptions of immoral priests. Read at your own risk.

dailycatholic.org/issue/2003Feb/febfor1.htm#ednotes

I’ve only been in the Arlington diocese for a short time and was not aware of this story or Fr. Haley. Does anyone have any insight or know of this case and the details? I thought our bishop was a pretty orthodox guy…now I’m not so sure. 😦

It disturbs me greatly that a priest with integrity and courage to do the right thing is being punished. Is this the type of reaction we can expect from bishops who are informed that major problems exist in their diocese? This bishop certainly appears to support the “don’t ask, don’t tell” mentality which I feel is part of the problem in our church.
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First, this sounds a lot like gossip.

Second, doesn’t the article end with the statement that an audit of the parish funds found money missing?
 
Your article confirms what I’ve read in the March 2005 issue of *New Oxford Review. *Michael S. Rose has an article entitled “Killing the Messenger” on page 20 that describes the Fr. Haley situation. I also recommend Rose’s book, Goodbye, Good Men. This book truly infuriated many of the Catholic hierarchy because it pointed out the truth about several seminaries that are outposts of what Fr. Andrew Greeley has called the Lavender Mafia. It’s really all pretty sick and is part and parcel of the Catholic clergy-sexual abuse scandal that’s been brought to light in the last few years.
 
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larryo:
Your article confirms what I’ve read in the March 2005 issue of *New Oxford Review. *Michael S. Rose has an article entitled “Killing the Messenger” on page 20 that describes the Fr. Haley situation. I also recommend Rose’s book, Goodbye, Good Men. This book truly infuriated many of the Catholic hierarchy because it pointed out the truth about several seminaries that are outposts of what Fr. Andrew Greeley has called the Lavender Mafia. It’s really all pretty sick and is part and parcel of the Catholic clergy-sexual abuse scandal that’s been brought to light in the last few years.
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Thanks for your comment. I see that my second note above was wrong.

Still seems to be gossip though as we do not really know the whole story involved.

As for Fr Greeley… I would not run around using him as support for any arguments as he is a known dissenter.

“Lavender Mafia” an offensive and unchariatable comment. If you wish to use it please provide proof and just saying that Fr Greeley said it is not enough.
 
I would add that the link is to an article from Feburary 2003.

That hardly qualifies as news.

And last but not least, this “article” is a reprint from the Catholic Family News, another mouth piece of dissent in the Church.
 
I’d like to add to the caution in the previous posts. I’ve been part of the Arlingotn Diocese for about 3 years now, and I have met Bishop Lovorde on several occasions. I know him by reputation to be a serious and orthodox man. I seriously doubt the claims in this “article”
 
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Dredgemate:
I’d like to add to the caution in the previous posts. I’ve been part of the Arlingotn Diocese for about 3 years now, and I have met Bishop Lovorde on several occasions. I know him by reputation to be a serious and orthodox man. I seriously doubt the claims in this “article”
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I have been in the Arlington Diocese for 6 years now and I concur. The article cited seemed biased.
 
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ByzCath:
I would add that the link is to an article from Feburary 2003.

That hardly qualifies as news.
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It was news to me since I’ve only been in the diocese for less than one year.

Good to hear others’ opinions of Bishop Loverde as being “orthodox”. I guess time will tell.
 
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Scott_Lafrance:
I have been in the Arlington Diocese for 6 years now and I concur. The article cited seemed biased.
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My mother has a friend whose son was sexually molested at St. Marks parish in Vienna Va about 8 years ago. The allegations were never seriously addressed. So, although I have no way of confirming if this article is biased…I do know that problems have occured in this diocese. BTW…my local parish priest was recently dismissed from his ministy duties on account of an indictment for soliciting child pornography on the internet. Problems DO exist in this diocese…like it or not!
 
As we are all throwing out our bona fides, let me start by saying that I was welcomed into the Church seven years ago in the Diocese of Arlington under then Bishop Keating. My reconciliation was much easier than many because of the strong orthodox nature of most of the priests and parishioners I met. The current chancellor of the diocese was my Pastor and I still count him to be a wonderful friend to me and my family.

All this being said, the article (both facts and conclusions) is not altogether without merit. The case of Father Haley is proceeding at the normal glacial pace that occurs with matters of this type. Truth be told, if Fr. Haley had not been brought to the attention of the attorneys for the spurned husband of Fr. Vecchia’s lover now wife none of this would be in the public eye. His submission to a deposition for the civil case is what has prompted the bulk of the fallout and the majority of factual accusations being released into the open.

For those of you who are still in the Diocese pray very hard for your Bishop. While vocations have been an incredible strength of this Diocese, the previous director of vocations was a not so sublte proponent of Father Haley and is now not only out of a job in the Diocese, but also politely “retired.”

The predominance of priests with whom I am familiar in Arlington still inspire great hope in me for the Church and the Priesthood. The last parish I attended in Northern Virginia was St. Andrew the Apostle in Clifton and no one would ever accuse the Pastor Fr. Fassano of being a member of the “Lavender Mafia.”

Blessings to all in Northern Virginia, while I now truly suffer in Southern California’s Diocese of Orange.
 
WBOZ – sorry you’re no longer in VA. Thanks for the insight and clarity of this situation. I do believe it to be a hard time for the bishop and the diocese but have hope that priests with integrity will triumph in the end.

P.S. the priest that was let go at St. Mary’s (also mentioned in the article) is a true story…my sister lived in Fredericksburg and her son attended St. Mary’s school and was well aware of the scandal.
 
I read the same thing in the March 2005 New Oxford Review.

The Bishop in VA is allowing homosexual priests to have the upper hand. It is the Bishop that needs a thrashing.

What do you think this sort of behavior will do to men contemplating the Priesthood?

Yes, the Smoke of Satan is flowing under the doorsill in VA.
 
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Exporter:
I read the same thing in the March 2005 New Oxford Review.
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So did I, and I immediately tried to post the information. Unfortunately, I didn’t know (and still don’t), how to take something from an article in a periodical and get it in a post.
So, the thread was shut down. I am SO glad that those of you who know how to do things got this message out.

I do believe this Loverde also “moved” that responsible Father James Gould (sp?) from director of vocations. He is the one who interpreted and analyzed the USCCB meetings on EWTN with Raymond Arroyo. (We never were told why he was no longer around to do that.) Under him, Arlington had a respectable number of vocations each year; now it’s down with the other “sick” dioceses. No surprise.

Want to play “conspiracy theorists?” How about the “sudden” death of Arlington’s Bishop Keating in Rome? :rolleyes:

A truly ugly story, even if one takes only the factual illegalities, but it is one more lesson about who and what should be ordained AND WHO AND WHAT SHOULD NOT. :tsktsk: :tsktsk: :tsktsk:

Pity us all, :crying:

Anna
 
Anna Elizabeth:
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Exporter:
I read the same thing in the March 2005 New Oxford Review.
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So did I, and I immediately tried to post the information. Unfortunately, I didn’t know (and still don’t), how to take something from an article in a periodical and get it in a post.
So, the thread was shut down. I am SO glad that those of you who know how to do things got this message out.
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The problem is that it is hard to disucss an article that no one has, well that only those who subscribe it have.

This is why your thread got shut down.
 
DVIN CKS:
My mother has a friend whose son was sexually molested at St. Marks parish in Vienna Va about 8 years ago. The allegations were never seriously addressed. So, although I have no way of confirming if this article is biased…I do know that problems have occured in this diocese. BTW…my local parish priest was recently dismissed from his ministy duties on account of an indictment for soliciting child pornography on the internet. Problems DO exist in this diocese…like it or not!
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I am not saying that problems don’t exist, but rather commenting on the objectivity of the article posted.
 
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Exporter:
I read the same thing in the March 2005 New Oxford Review.

The Bishop in VA is allowing homosexual priests to have the upper hand. It is the Bishop that needs a thrashing.

What do you think this sort of behavior will do to men contemplating the Priesthood?

Yes, the Smoke of Satan is flowing under the doorsill in VA.
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You people are basing your views on a scant amount of evidence, and all of it third, or even fourth, hand. I haven’t seen this Oxford Review article- any chance of posting excerpts?

Please, people, before you go out making outlandish accusation make sure your facts are straight. It’s too easy to condemn a man based on hearsay and conjecture.

In the spirit of charity, why not give Bishop Louverde the benefit of the doubt? So far, I have only seen two people who have experience with the Bishop on this thread (myself and Scott) and we both give him a thumbs up. Until I see something irrefutable, I remain a Louverde supporter.
 
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ByzCath:
Thanks for your comment. I see that my second note above was wrong.

Still seems to be gossip though as we do not really know the whole story involved.

As for Fr Greeley… I would not run around using him as support for any arguments as he is a known dissenter.

“Lavender Mafia” an offensive and unchariatable comment. If you wish to use it please provide proof and just saying that Fr Greeley said it is not enough.
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Read the article and book I referred to before you start questioning a term that I did not invent. While it’s true that Father Greeley is a liberal and of the same ilk as Fr. Richard McBrien of Notre Dame U., he is a priest in good standing. Being liberal is not necessarily the same as being a dissenter who propagates doctrinal error. I lived in the Arlington Diocese for 13 years and the claims made by Father Haley deserve to be investigated. I don’t question the orthodoxy of Bishop Loverde but it does seem that he’s taken a similar route to that of Cardinal Law in Boston. When Bishop Keating administered the Arlington Diocese, new parishes were springing up all over and there was a surfeit of priestly vocations. The number of ordinations under Bishop Loverde has declined precipitously, mostly due to his removal of Father James Gould as diocesan vocations director.
 
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larryo:
Read the article and book I referred to before you start questioning a term that I did not invent. While it’s true that Father Greeley is a liberal and of the same ilk as Fr. Richard McBrien of Notre Dame U., he is a priest in good standing. Being liberal is not necessarily the same as being a dissenter who propagates doctrinal error. I lived in the Arlington Diocese for 13 years and the claims made by Father Haley deserve to be investigated. I don’t question the orthodoxy of Bishop Loverde but it does seem that he’s taken a similar route to that of Cardinal Law in Boston. When Bishop Keating administered the Arlington Diocese, new parishes were springing up all over and there was a surfeit of priestly vocations. The number of ordinations under Bishop Loverde has declined precipitously, mostly due to his removal of Father James Gould as diocesan vocations director.
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I stand by my comment.

As for Fr Greeley, he may be a priest in good standing but after all that has happened in the Church that doesn’t always mean much.

Seems he has engaged in theological errors.

Three Bishops Refute Flawed Theology of Fr. Andrew Greeley

And as to that book. I have read it and I find it lacking. It is a one sided view of a group of men. I do believe some of it is true but I also believe that some of it is exaggerated and possibily worse. As I have friends who attended one of the seminaries named and they dispute the accounts found in the book.
 
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