Posted on 05/25/2005 4:57:18 PM PDT by narses
MIAMI -- A Roman Catholic priest has accused the Miami Archdiocese of wrongly firing him for complaining about homosexual activity by a fellow priest and financial improprieties. But the archdiocese denied that he was fired and called the allegations ``malicious.'' The Rev. Andrew Dowgiert sued in state court in Miami on Friday. His suit said the immediate cause of his firing from All Saints Catholic Church in Sunrise was that he resisted an archdiocese attempt to send him away for psychological and alcohol treatment. Dowgiert denied any problem with alcohol, the suit said. Dowgiert said he was removed after refusing to sign checks for what the lawsuit calls ``excessive'' amounts while the pastor at All Saints was on vacation with a male companion. Two of Dowgiert's lawyers said one check was for $5,000 for a bed. His lawyers said he was also being punished for complaining about the pastor's domestic partner, who was frequently at the parish. Archbishop John Favalora ``will defend the archdiocese and the priests named in this lawsuit very vigorously,'' archdiocese spokeswoman Mary Ross Agosta said Monday. ``For someone to malign reputations of priests who have been good and faithful servants is malicious.'' ``Father Dowgiert has never belonged to the Archdiocese of Miami and served here temporarily with the permission of his Archbishop and (Favalora),'' the archdiocese said in a statement. ``When it became necessary to end Father Dowgiert's service here, the norms of canon law were followed.'' Dowgiert was ordained in Poland in 1988 and served in South Florida between 1999 and 2004. He is suing on several counts, including breach of employment contract, slander and whistle-blower retaliation. He is seeking reinstatement.
(Excerpt) Read more at sun-sentinel.com ...
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IIRC it is a violation of Canon Law to use civil courts in this sort of case. Too bad.
Another coverup by the Post Councilar corrupt Vatican II church. Will Gods wrath soon befall all of those who follow these horrible corrupt Bishops and take the Body and Blood of Christ from them immediately after they fornicated and acted out homosexual acts from those very sinful hands? Find the nearest traditional church and forget about the Novus Ordo. I hear some of my friends say, well not in my church, or well Father Jim is Ok... is that what you are willing to settle for..Ok?
Just curious how you can tell it's a cover-up.
Miami is pretty notorious for this. I know nothing about the bishop down there, but I sure hope he's pushing retirement age. Things need changing.
Our relatively new bishop in St. Augustine is very good. He's not exactly a liturgist, and he's quite left-wing, but he is at least very orthodox in life/family and doctrinal issues. He was the only Florida bishop who spoke out strongly in the Terri Schiavo horror, and in addition, he has been bringing in orthodox priests and moving those who aren't.
It's hard to get orthodox priests in Florida because the seminary at Boynton Beach was a well-known Pink Palace for a long time. I bet the Miami pastor is one of its products.
LOL!!! This guy is not incardinated in Miami, thus the archbishop can lift his faculties at any time, for any reason.
There is no "employment contract" in Canon Law, unless one is incardinated into a diocese.
His Polish bishop should order him home before this priest saddles him with court costs and lawyers' fees.
There seems to be no limit to the things we'll carry before the courts.
Let us hope that ....
Well, perhaps it's too much to hope that Floriduh judges have common sense. If just ONE, in Miami, does, then this case is dismissed--no standing.
Can a priest be fired?
Fr. Dowgiert's problem is that he brought to America an Eastern European vice- alcohol- or so it would appear, and he wound up face to face with the American vice; sodomy.
A case of mutual incomprehension.
The local diocese, being accustomed to turning a blind eye to the homegrown, sober shirtlifters among its ranks, felt compeled to do something about an out-of-town drunk. As a result, the priest, who sees no big deal about a little liquor to soothe the soul, has taken them to task for their own tolerance of homosexuality and sodomy, to which he obviously has an aversion.
He has no legal standing, of course, but bouncing a drunk while ignoring the homos will look bad for Favalora, who richly deserves to be shown up in public.
For those who are interested in this case, the text of the lawsuit can be found here:
http://www.renewamerica.us/columns/abbott/050521
Sounds like the Arlington case.
He may have legal standing, because in Dallas the Conference opened the dioceses to this sort of thing
Are you really accepting at face value the ordinary sort of assassination tactics that are used by chanceries in painting a priest as an _________________ (fill in the blank) in order to get rid of him or to get him to shut up.
Defendant, Archdiocese of Miami, Inc. has retaliated and continues to retaliate against Plaintiff, Father Andrew Dowgiert, because he has objected to and refused to participate in the activities and policies of the Defendant, his employer, which are in violation of the laws, rules, and regulations of the State of Florida. These activities and policies including the following:
his objection the theft of Parish and/or Archdiocese money from St. Justin Martyr Catholic Church in excess of $15,000.00 of which a portion was to be paid to Father Andrew;
his objection to Father Edward Olszewski's active, non-celibate behavior and specifically his previous abuse of a minor,
his objection to preferential employment advantages given to active, non-celibate homosexual priests over celibate heterosexual priests throughout the Archdiocese and specifically at each of the parishes at which he worked in the Archdiocese;
his objection to the theft of Parish funds from the Good Shepard parish;
his objection to the theft and excessive spending of Parish funds from All Saints Parish by Father Morales; and
his continuing objection to Archdiocese priests and officials engaging in improper behavior, including but not limited to, creating, sharing, and disseminating internet pornography,
his objection to the Father Morales' domestic partner and co-tenant's continual presence at All Saints Parish especially in light of the former seminarians sexual misconduct,
his objection to Father Greer living separate from the rectory in his condo on the water and in addition to living in housing on the parish's ground and establishing a non-celibate, permissive retreat for young homosexual seminarians.
Do you know any of the Usinas?
Ooops, that was supposed to be a private reply.
Not really. I was simply taking at face value what is reported in the article. It may or may not be correct. I don't know.
I have absolutely no problem believing that Fr. Dowgiert's pastor has a boyfriend, however, nor that Bp. Favalora looks the other way.
Neither would it surprise me if the diocese was more concerned about abuse of the bottle than consensual homosexual sex. Providing the priest carries out his duties and leaves the altar boys and children alone, I doubt whether they'd be moved to act. Drunkeness, on the other hand, tends to be a more visible and public problem. It's effects linger and can be smelled and observed by all those who come into contact with the priest for some time after. An alcohol fume-filled confessional, for example, would upset many people, whereas a little private gay rumpy-pumpy would be seen and agonized over by nobody.
"Providing the priest carries out his duties and leaves the altar boys and children alone"
That's like saying, "Provided the rattlesnakes are non-venomous..."
Doesn't happen. Never has, never will.
Every second that a man who suffers from same-sex attraction disorder has access to a boy, that boy is at risk.
"a little private gay rumpy-pumpy would be seen and agonized over by nobody."
What about Our Lord?
There may not be an express contract, but there doesn't mean there was no contract. That's first and foremost a question of Florida law, not Canon Law. If the priest performed the duties of an employee and was subject to oversight by the Bishop, there almost certainly was an employer-employee relationship. Even in at-will jurisdictions such a relationship is scrutinized according to the laws of contract.
Moreover, I'm not familiar with Florida law in particular, but as a general rule one cannot away bargain statutory protections such as whistle-blower laws. Even at-will employment contracts can often be sued under for breach of implied covenants of good faith and fair dealing. That is, the court will not allow an employer to break the law and avoid the consequences by claiming the employee baragained away his protections.
No. First and foremost this is a matter of Canon Law. If the Church (his employer) does not recognize his jurisdiction, civil law will not recognize jurisdiction either. At least, that's the way it's worked in the past.
Ahhh...I agree.
I was referring to the mindset of many bishops and diocesan officials.
Okay, sorry, I thought you were making that arrument.
No, send him to Milwaukee because we need priests and we have a large Polish population.
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