Posted on 06/21/2002 7:15:35 AM PDT by Liz
Queens parochial school principal who angered Catholic Church leaders by accusing a priest of looting school coffers to pay for a gay lover has won the backing of a prominent local Catholic educator.
"Your courage in stopping this outrage, even at the risk to your own employment, has taught all of your pupils a lesson they will long remember," the Rev. Richard Van Houten, president of Archbishop Molloy High School in Jamaica, wrote to Barbara Samide.
Van Houten went so far as to hint in the letter that he would come to Samide's rescue if she is ousted as principal of St. Elizabeth School in Ozone Park.
"If we have an opening in your field, we would be honored to have a person of your integrity on our faculty," he wrote.
"Your actions — and the tragic inaction of the clergy — underscore the need to end the culture of secrecy and the lack of accountability in the church," he added.
Samide, 39, blew the lid off a simmering tale of alleged sin and theft of school funds in a lawsuit filed in Queens Supreme Court on Wednesday against Brooklyn Bishop Thomas Daily and the Diocese of Brooklyn, which also runs Catholic parishes in Queens.
The suit charges that the vicar for southern Queens, Msgr. James Spengler, repeatedly ignored Samide's complaints that the Rev. John Thompson stole thousands from St. Elizabeth School coffers and spent much of it on a 19-year-old male go-go dancer he met at a Greenwich Village nightclub.
In addition, the suit charges that Thompson used his church-issued American Express card to pay for trips to a Florida nudist resort and a weekly visit to a Village massage parlor.
Samide states in the suit that Thompson, 50, spoke openly about being a "sugar daddy" to a teenage "houseboy," and moved his lover into the St. Elizabeth rectory in January 2001.
Samide, who joined the school in September 2000, also charges that Thompson stole $14,000 in profits from a school candy drive.
Frank DeRosa, a spokesman for the Brooklyn Diocese, insisted yesterday that Samide's job is not in jeopardy, adding, "She is the principal of the school."
The Queens district attorney's office has empaneled a grand jury to investigate the charges of missing funds. Samide is expected to be the star witness before that panel.
DeRosa said the church will "fully comply" with prosecutors' request for the school's financial records.
Thompson resigned from the parish March 23 and is living with his family.
IMHO Married priests (to women) active in the church and not gay would quickly blow the whistle on such behavior, and their very presence would deter it. And I don't mean ex protestant priests who have another agenda.
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If you want on (or off) this Catholic and Pro-Life ping list, let me know!
I have always said - over and over - prune the bush of the dead wood. I don't care how much pruning they have to do. I don't care how many perverts they have to get rid of. They are dead wood. They will all end up dry and in the fire. Prune the bush to green, healthy productive wood. If we have good, holy priests to continue on - no matter how few - the priesthood will grow with good men at the helm in service of Christ and His Church. God is, indeed, purging the church of this sickness. And he is using good people like Principal Samide and Bro Van Houton.
Re that picture: Ick!
When the lay people of the Catholic Church realise how infiltrated and corrupted some diocese are by the stench of these sodomites it will be a watershed moment for the Church.
For nearly 40 years the church turned its back on the word of God and knowingly allowed homosexuals into the heirarchy... some districts they now have full control, and trade sexual favors for promotions and assignments and anyone who stands up against them are pushed aside.
I know Pope Benedict will want to end this, but I am not sure that those beneath him will follow through with what is needed to purge this stench from the church. I suspect too many wish to turn a blind eye and hope it goes away.
Just saw headline, FYI.
To Whom It May Concern:
Please remove my name from the Stale Thread Ping List.
Good grief! I juar noticed that this was first posted in 2002! I assumed this was recent news!
What happened to this sicko priest?
This sounds pretty bad, and it's discouraging because I thought Bishop Daly was one of the good guys.
I wouldn't blame a bishop for handling such a scandal quietly, but I would blame him for not removing the priest from all duties and putting him somewhere where he couldn't do any more damage.
A bishop has not duty to publicize every scandal, but he does have a duty to protect his flock and put an end to any further wrongdoing.
There doesn't seem to be much doubt that Daley failed to do the right thing in this case, although I reserve some doubts since the Daily News is not a trustworthy source. But the story appears to be confirmed.
Oh. This story is dated 2002? That should have been made much clearer.
Pingy!
fyi
;-)
Coleus, did you have some reason for reviving this story in 2005 and then again now? It's confusing when that is done without some clearer notice that it's now four years old.
:)
NY Archdiocese tells suspect priests: leave or enter programHere's praying that we are turning the corner at last.NEW YORK (AP) -- New York priests suspected of sexually abusing children but protected from expulsion by Catholic law are being required to enter a lifelong supervision program or leave the church, according to the New York Archdiocese.
Since June, seven priests have been presented with the choice, and five of the men have chosen to leave the priesthood, said archdiocese spokesman Joseph Zwilling.
The other two are expected to spend their lives in closely supervised housing, where they will undergo therapy and maintain a daily log of their movements. Men in this Shepherd Program will not be permitted to celebrate Mass in public, dress as priests, be alone with children or "inappropriately use computers," according to a letter sent to the priests by Cardinal Edward Egan.
Before the new program, Zwilling said, suspected abusers had been barred from functioning as priests but had been allowed great freedom, required only to notify the archdiocese where they were living.
"We, through our own process, have come to the conclusion that we believe that these men cannot be returned to ministry, and therefore we have to find something to do with them," Zwilling said.
Victims advocates said the new policy could help protect the church from liability, but worried that the priests who decide to leave could again become abusers.
"Unleashing them on society is not the responsible thing to do," said the Rev. John P. Bambrick, a priest in the Trenton Diocese who says he was abused as a youth by a priest and who is now an advocate for victims.
The church says it refers any allegations that could result in a prosecution to law enforcement officials, but in many old cases, the statute of limitations has run out.
The tight supervision, called the Shepherd Program, targets priests who have been referred by an archdiocesan advisory board, as well as those who have been convicted in a canonical trial but determined to be too old or sick to endure being defrocked.
It is unclear how common such programs are. Officials at the Chicago Archdiocese said that nine priests accused of sex abuse live in a retreat house on the grounds of a seminary and are carefully monitored.
"There are several other dioceses that have similar programs, but unfortunately, none of them are willing to talk about it," said William Ryan, a spokesman for the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.
A previous poster related misgivings about a more recent occurrence---and apparetly pulled up this 2002 post as a reference source, not realizing it was four years old.
In Queens, no less.....
Not to mention....ahem....another Tomas de Torquemada, whose assignment THIS time will be internal to the Church, not external...
LOL, that is a quaint bit of versimilitude-----btw, please note this was posted in 2002.
He's innocent until proven guilty. But once he's found guilty, defrock him and put him where he can't lie, steal and hurt anyone ever again.
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