Posted on 08/11/2005 10:33:01 AM PDT by NYer
The archdiocese of New York has just announced that Msgr. Clark's resignation from the Rectorate of St. Patrick's Cathedral has been accepted.
You said it.
NY Daily News....Beauty and the Priest. Tale of the Tape. full story on pages 4-5
Why check in to a hotel when you are the sole owner of a house nearby?
Where did you get the husband caught them. The aunt and husband said the daughter walked in when she was sitting on his lap in a teddy. Now, I live in NY and I have the papers right here, if you have something different post-it cause I haven't seen that yet.
I think he/she is referring to the video that the undercover investigator had on them going to and leaving the motel.
Related Stories
» Affair charge rocks cleric
Michael Daly: Expert on love and marriage
Leading voice of orthodoxy
Affair charge rocks cleric
St. Pat's rector accused of trysts with secretary
BY BARBARA ROSS, ADAM LISBERG and CORKY SIEMASZKO
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITERS
At the White Sands Motel in Amagansett
Msgr. Eugene Clark
Laura DeFilippo leaving court yesterday.
The Archdiocese of New York is looking into explosive allegations that a top priest who publicly railed against our "sex-saturated society" had a long-term affair with his married church secretary.
Msgr. Eugene Clark allegedly romanced 46-year-old Laura DeFilippo at his Hamptons home and a Long Island motel, according to police and court records.
Questioned yesterday by a Daily News reporter at a Montauk restaurant where Clark and DeFilippo have been seen noshing, the 79-year-old rector of St. Patrick's Cathedral denied he and DeFilippo were lovers.
"Not true," Clark said outside the Surfside Inn.
The accusations against Clark were brought by DeFilippo's husband, Philip, who had an investigator tail the duo to a Hamptons motel - videotaping them last month arriving together and then checking out several hours later.
And in signed statements to Eastchester Police in Westchester County, Philip DeFilippo, his 14-year-old daughter and his wife's sister all describe how the teen allegedly found her mother "sitting on [Clark's] lap wearing a satin teddy."
The girl told police she ran to her room where her mother "yelled at me, convincing me that I didn't see what I saw, and it wasn't what I thought. She told me that he had prostate cancer, and I couldn't tell anyone what I saw or I would be in trouble."
Clark has retained high-powered defense attorney Laura Brevetti, who called the allegations "contrived" and added, "there is nothing to them."
"Msgr. Clark is deeply upset and saddened that innocent events have been distorted and sensationalized causing harm and public embarrassment to Mrs. DeFilippo and her children," she said in a statement.
The archdiocese was unaware of the allegations until The News called Monday seeking comment.
Joseph Zwilling, a spokesman for the archdiocese, said "we only learned about this last night [Monday], and we have been speaking to Msgr. Clark today to get to the bottom of this," he said.
Laura DeFilippo's lawyer, Michael Berger, called the allegations "baseless" and said her husband was making a "desperate attempt to coerce her to accept her husband's outrageous demands in their matrimonial action."
The developments came as Westchester County Family Court Judge Kathie Davidson granted Philip DeFilippo's request for an order of protection against his wife.
In a statement to police, Philip DeFilippo said that when he told his wife that he had a videotape of her at a motel with Clark, she threatened to "stab me with a scissor or a knife."
Davidson said DeFilippo will be barred from her Eastchester home until Aug. 22, by which time a guardian will have had a chance to question the couple's two children.
She did not speak at the hearing.
Clark hired DeFilippo straight out of high school and presided over her marriage to Philip in Yonkers 20 years ago. She now earns between $70,000 and $100,000 from the archdiocese, her husband said.
"It's the perfect cover," DeFilippo's husband told The News.
Philip DeFilippo, who filed for divorce last week citing adultery as one of the grounds for his action, said Clark was a close family friend and frequently invited them to spend summer weekends at his Amagansett, L.I., home.
"He's a charming, dapper, blue-eyed, suave, quick-witted, fast-talking charmer," he said.
Philip DeFilippo became suspicious when his wife began working late into the night at the Madison Ave. rectory and balked at joining a family vacation at Disney World.
He said Clark took her to Lisbon and to the exclusive Caribbean island of St. Bart's.
When he eventually confronted his wife, she replied: "What are you worried about? He's a priest ... an elderly priest!"
Last month, Philip DeFilippo said he had a private eye tail Clark and his wife to the White Sands Motel in Amagansett. The investigator videotaped the monsignor going into the office.
The Daily News viewed the videotape. After a two-hour brunch on the porch of the nearby Surfside Inn, Clark, dressed in a white polo shirt, was seen wheeling a small black suitcase into the White Sands Motel. His secretary, dressed in short white shorts and a matching top with spaghetti straps, followed him inside with an orange tote bag over her shoulder.
When they emerged about five hours later, the video showed Clark and DeFilippo wearing different outfits.
Originally published on August 10, 2005
I found it.
DeFilippo should have DNA tests done on his kids. They may be in line to inherit that Amagansett house and Clark's other assets.
I didn't read the Post today...i'll check it out.
-recent related story posted on FR -may be the 'original'...
Affair charge rocks cleric (St. Pat's rector accused of trysts with secretary)
Yes, there are still properties passed down from one generation to another, especially out in that "high rent" district. When I was in HS, we would drive out to Dune Road in the Hamptons. It's probably closed now to public traffic.
I'm so sad to see this. I enjoyed his programs on EWTN.
He was able to find his way. Hopefully Monsignor Clark will too.
Priceless!
This is very true up here as well.
The devil wants it all destroyed because the strength of the church and those who are faithful to God is such a threat to the evil life he wants us to live. The devil is afraid of the goodness and power of truly religious spiritual people and he is trying to make his evil army larger and stronger. He is working overtime to create this unrest and make the weak give into these sexual temptations, and make other weak people accept the lifestyles that are not moral ones of God's desire.
I pray that the faithful find the strength to not give into these base desires when they are confronted with them. I also pray that those who do are exposed and removed and given the punishment that is deserved here on earth. Yet I hope that God helps them seek a way to repent and make restitution.
The strong presence evilness in the world today requires us to continually fight hard to rise above and not cave in, and it keeps getting stronger because the devil is so afraid of the power of those who believe in and love God and his Son, the saints, and all that is spiritual and good. As the faithful are more successful in bringing religion to higher levels of importance, the devil will continue to fight harder to bring it all down. This is the spiritual war that is raging like never before.
Yes, unfortunately, this is just another sad realization of the power of the devil and how weak we all are when temptation is so strong. With all this priest knew, with everything available to him to help him fight temptation, and with all he stood to loose, he still fell prey to the most sinful of desires that humans have the most trouble overcoming. That is how strong the devil is, and how his powers will always be used to destroy all that is good, and especially used most strongly against those who are supposed to be examples of good to bring them down and cause doubt and criticism and dismay among the good people. The devil only wants to and give power to the enemies of the church and all those who are of strong religious beliefs in God and God's laws.
He and the woman will be judged by God, not me....but they both still must pay the price and do penance on earth for their actions against morality and their vows. They cannot undo their past, and they both committed this crime knowing that doing so was illegal and immoral in the eyes of the Law and God. There is no escape from the price they should pay on earth and both have deserved to be exposed and should be thrown out of the church, as well as face the legal penalties. The rest is up to God.
We must all keep praying for strength to keep the devil away from our minds and influencing our thoughts so that he does not continue winning these battles for our souls.
Which makes this situation that much more questionable.
Fr. Corapi should know; traveled down that road. Like St. Augustine, it was his mother's prayers that saved him.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.