Priests in the News

Yes, it's been awhile since we've blogged, but can you blame us? Here's a run-down on a few items that are simply unavoidable for a blog whose title is "The Connecticut Catholic." As you'll see, they're not pleasant topics.

First, there's this in today's Courant:

A former New Milford man claims in a lawsuit filed Friday against the Roman
Catholic Archdiocese of Hartford that he was repeatedly abused by a Simsbury
priest 30 years ago.
Niles Mallory charges that, beginning when he was 16
years old, the Rev. Ivan Ferguson assaulted him in Ferguson's bedroom in the
rectory of St. Bernard's Roman Catholic Church in the Tariffville section of
Simsbury.
The sexual assaults took place in 1977 and 1978, according to the
suit.
Before he died at age 68 in 2002, Ferguson was sued for similar
behavior. A $22 million settlement between the Hartford Archdiocese and 43
victims in 2005 was designed in part to compensate an unspecified number of
Ferguson's victims.

And a few days earlier there was this:

NEW HAVEN, Conn. - A former priest pleaded guilty to stealing hundreds of
thousands of dollars from his church by setting up secret bank accounts to pay
for a life of luxury, including traveling around the world and buying a
condominium.
The Rev. Michael Jude Fay, who resigned last year as pastor of
St. John Roman Catholic Church, pleaded guilty Wednesday to interstate
transportation of money obtained by fraud. He faces up to 10 years in prison, a
$250,000 fine and must pay restitution.
Prosecutors said Fay took between $1
million and $2.5 million over seven years, but the priest has disputed that. He
admitted taking between $400,000 and $1 million.

The papers have been extraordinarily reticent about how Fay's fraud was specifically to pay for that "life of luxury" with his homosexual lover. Of course, they're far less reticent in the alleged details regarding Fr. Grant:

WATERBURY — A Roman Catholic priest at two Naugatuck churches allegedly
coerced a teenage boy into giving him oral sex several times in exchange for
wine and money, according to an arrest warrant affidavit released at Waterbury
Superior Court on Wednesday.
A 16-year-old boy alleged in the affidavit that
the Rev. Robert J. Grant, 63, of St. Mary's and St. Hedwig's churches, paid him
between $100 and $150 each time the boy performed oral sex on Grant. The
affidavit also says that the boy, who was 15 when the incidents began between
July and August 2006, gave Grant several back massages at St. Mary's Church in
exchange for $50 each time.

The Archdiocese appears to have been taken completely by surprise regarding the allegations against Fr. Grant. The first press accounts quoted officials saying Fr. Grant had a spotless record during his 14 years as a priest. Grant is also a member of the Fraternity of Priests, a group of priests within the Archdiocese known for their doctrinal orthodoxy. The rumor in Naugatuck is that the alleged victim is the son of a church janitor whom Fr. Grant had just fired and that the accusation is some sort of payback. And the Waterbury newspaper ran a seperate article just on the strong support Grant has received from his parishes in the wake of these allegations. None of this proves he's innocent, of course, but it's worth noting the strong support he has on the ground in Naugatuck.

Finally, I want to note one happy item--the passing of an elderly priest of the Bridgeport diocese who was a good man and known for his committment to the pro-life cause. Fr. Bill Smith was also a friend to Donna Maria of the Embracing Motherhood blog:

I have known dear Fr. Bill for almost thirty years and have learned so much
from his holy life. I plan to write about him soon in upcoming posts, but for
now I am weary. It has been a long week - watching Fr. Bill in his last days.
When he barely had strength to continue living, he was concerned about giving us
blessings - sometimes in Latin! The blessings in his last couple of days were
given to us with a hand almost too weak to be lifted. His love for his friends
and family will continue, no doubt from his eternal rest.