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NEW YORK POST via Yahoo News
By JENNIFER FERMINO
Sat Jul 9, 2005
The Vatican has defrocked six priests from the Archdiocese of New York including one who paid for sex with an underage boy and another who was convicted of sodomizing a drunken teen, officials said yesterday.
All the men lost their pensions and will not be allowed to perform priestly duties and were stripped of their collars by the Roman Catholic Church following allegations of sexual abuse.
A seventh priest, who was also accused of sexual abuse, Rev. Alfred Gallant, of Orange County, was allowed to retain his title of priest and keep his pension, but not allowed to perform sacraments.
One of the defrocked priests, Daniel Calabrese, 44, who once served at a Staten Island parish, pleaded guilty in 1993 to performing oral sex on a teenager in upstate Poughkeepsie.
He admitted to plying the youngster with vodka before abusing him in his church rectory.
Patrick Quigley, who served as a clergyman in Manhattan and Staten Island, pleaded guilty to soliciting adolescent boys for sex in Rockland County.
In addition, Francis Stinner, Ralph LaBelle, Kenneth Jesselli and David Carson were all “reduced to a lay state.”
According to an announcement in Catholic New York, the men were punished under the “Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People.”
The provision was created in 2002 after a string of high-profile molestation cases rocked the church’s hierarchy and faithful.
In it, the church promised to report abuse to the police and forbids dioceses to sign confidentiality agreements with victims.
The provision allows older or sick priests to keep their pension and title but not work in the church any longer.
The release of the men’s identities fulfills a promise Edward Cardinal Egan made in 2002 after he turned over a list of 30 New York-area priests who’d been accused of sex offenses to the Vatican.
A Vatican committee determined whether the priests should be defrocked.
He’d said then that he would publicly name those who were expelled from the priesthood.
“This is part of what the cardinal pledged to do throughout this process,” said archdiocese spokesman Joseph Zwilling.
Zwilling said he will release more names “when and if we hear from the Vatican” about more expunged priests.
Mike Cullen, a former altar boy who was abused by his parish priest and now heads a clergy abuse activist group, said the archdiocese moved too slowly.
“That’s not going to help the people that they’ve already damaged,” said Cullen, who is part of the Survivor Network of those Accused by Priests. “It’s beyond too little too late.”
CLERICS CANNNED
The Vatican has stripped six New York-area priests of the priesthood:
Ralph LaBelle
Served in parishes in The Bronx, Staten Island and Putnam County
Daniel Calabrese
Served in parishes in Staten Island, Poughkeepsie and Congers
Patrick Quigley
Served in parishes in Manhattan, Staten Island and Rockland County
Francis Stinner
Served in parishes in Orange, Sullivan and Westchester counties
Kenneth Jesselli
Served in parishes in The Bronx and Westchester County
David Carson
Served in parishes in Staten Island and Congers and as a chaplain with the United States
news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nypost/20050709/lo_nypost/vaticansackssixpervynypriests
By JENNIFER FERMINO
Sat Jul 9, 2005
The Vatican has defrocked six priests from the Archdiocese of New York including one who paid for sex with an underage boy and another who was convicted of sodomizing a drunken teen, officials said yesterday.
All the men lost their pensions and will not be allowed to perform priestly duties and were stripped of their collars by the Roman Catholic Church following allegations of sexual abuse.
A seventh priest, who was also accused of sexual abuse, Rev. Alfred Gallant, of Orange County, was allowed to retain his title of priest and keep his pension, but not allowed to perform sacraments.
One of the defrocked priests, Daniel Calabrese, 44, who once served at a Staten Island parish, pleaded guilty in 1993 to performing oral sex on a teenager in upstate Poughkeepsie.
He admitted to plying the youngster with vodka before abusing him in his church rectory.
Patrick Quigley, who served as a clergyman in Manhattan and Staten Island, pleaded guilty to soliciting adolescent boys for sex in Rockland County.
In addition, Francis Stinner, Ralph LaBelle, Kenneth Jesselli and David Carson were all “reduced to a lay state.”
According to an announcement in Catholic New York, the men were punished under the “Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People.”
The provision was created in 2002 after a string of high-profile molestation cases rocked the church’s hierarchy and faithful.
In it, the church promised to report abuse to the police and forbids dioceses to sign confidentiality agreements with victims.
The provision allows older or sick priests to keep their pension and title but not work in the church any longer.
The release of the men’s identities fulfills a promise Edward Cardinal Egan made in 2002 after he turned over a list of 30 New York-area priests who’d been accused of sex offenses to the Vatican.
A Vatican committee determined whether the priests should be defrocked.
He’d said then that he would publicly name those who were expelled from the priesthood.
“This is part of what the cardinal pledged to do throughout this process,” said archdiocese spokesman Joseph Zwilling.
Zwilling said he will release more names “when and if we hear from the Vatican” about more expunged priests.
Mike Cullen, a former altar boy who was abused by his parish priest and now heads a clergy abuse activist group, said the archdiocese moved too slowly.
“That’s not going to help the people that they’ve already damaged,” said Cullen, who is part of the Survivor Network of those Accused by Priests. “It’s beyond too little too late.”
CLERICS CANNNED
The Vatican has stripped six New York-area priests of the priesthood:
Ralph LaBelle
Served in parishes in The Bronx, Staten Island and Putnam County
Daniel Calabrese
Served in parishes in Staten Island, Poughkeepsie and Congers
Patrick Quigley
Served in parishes in Manhattan, Staten Island and Rockland County
Francis Stinner
Served in parishes in Orange, Sullivan and Westchester counties
Kenneth Jesselli
Served in parishes in The Bronx and Westchester County
David Carson
Served in parishes in Staten Island and Congers and as a chaplain with the United States
news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nypost/20050709/lo_nypost/vaticansackssixpervynypriests