A New Jersey priest, the former head of Catholic Charities in Newark, is suing various bishops and dioceses claiming a pattern of retaliation and harassment after Fr. Bob Hoatson made allegations that clergy sex-abuse was being covered up in New York. But the most explosive charge in the lawsuit is his claim to have evidence that Cardinal Edward Egan, Bishop Howard Hubbard of Albany, and Archbishop John Myers of Newark are all active homosexuals. And he says that their fear of exposure has led to their covering up of abuse.
Hmm, I’m not ready to jump on this with both feet. Undoubtedly there are some gay bishops. After all, we have heard stories of certain bishops by reliable third parties (not these bishops) and even acknowledgments of such behavior by bishops. But some things about this lawsuit smell.
Hoatson himself is questioned as to his reliability. The Newark archdiocese says he was placed on administrative leave because he abandoned his parish duties. Of the homosexuality charges, he says in his lawsuit that he has no problem with “consensual, adult private sexual behavior by these defendants.” As a Catholic priest, shouldn’t he have some problem with sexual behavior outside the bounds of marriage by a cleric and homosexual behavior at that? Additionally he’s represented by one of those odious and notorious plaintiffs’ attorneys, John Aretakis.
I’m filing this under “keep an eye on this.”
Technorati Tags: bishops, Catholic, homosexuality, lawsuits, sex abuse
Don’t waste any time wondering about Hubbard. From sex-change operations to questionable ‘suicides,’ the Alabany diocese has ranked for years as one of the most lavender (and disgraceful) in the country.
From the article…
“Sipe, the author and scholar, says the Vatican document “has opened up the question of sexual orientation among the priesthood,” including the hierarchy. And it’s set the stage for a potential backlash, incensing gay priests and causing Catholic faithful to think twice about the church’s hypocrisy. For years, gay Catholic groups like Dignity USA have refused to call gay bishops on it, keeping an anti-outing policy.
“There’s conflict in the gay community with the idea of outing a bishop,” he says. Indeed, he says one Dignity leader showed him a private list of 142 bishops who are purportedly homosexual. Some are celibate, others not. But nothing has ever come of it.
The Vatican’s antics on homosexuality could change all that. Michael Mendola, of Dignity New York, the local chapter, says gay priests have kept their mouths shut about bishops’ sex lives because they “don’t want to jeopardize their relationships with the dioceses.” But he knows plenty of good, caring gay priests who, in his words, “are tired of all the nonsense going on in the church with homosexuality these days.” They’re tired of the way the Vatican has pinned blame for the clergy-abuse crisis on homosexuals. And the way far-right Catholic groups have tried to purge the church of gays. “
Gays have declared war on the Church?
Hey, if they want to out the gay bishops, I’m all for it. Start posting lists!
Orthodox,
Can we see some evidence?
I’d be shocked if this was true about Myers. I highly doubt it.
Given what we have witnessed in the past few years, it would be hard to be shocked by anything any more.
That there have been actively homosexual members of the hierarchy at all levels up to the cardinalate has been established. That there are still others wearing mitres who have not been publicly identified hardly strains credulity. That the cover-up and shuffling of offending priests may sometimes have had more to do with the treat of blackmail for a hierarch’s own behavior – rather than ‘concern for the Church’ – is not a stretch either.
So, yes – let’s have it all out in the open. Expose the hypocritical false shepherds and remove them from further endangering the flock!
At this stage of the game, nothing would surprise me. Who would have thought Bishop O’Connell was doing what he was doing? It’s reached the point where to be a bishop in the United States is to automatically be suspect. It’s positively depressing.
Evidence? talk to anyone from Albany; read back newspapers, the Wanderer expose of over ten years ago, Steve Brady (Roman Catholic Faithful), the testimony of someone who stated he was hustled for sex by the bishop in an Albany park, etc, etc.etc.
The priest making the accusations sounds kind of wild to me but nothing would shock me anymore. If someone could prove to me that all the stuff that Malachi Martin wrote about is true I’d cry but I wouldn’t be shocked.
I figure that a good number of bishops must be gay or have some other blackmail prone secrets in order to have ignored the hijinks that have been going on for so many years.
I would be very surprised if the Myers allegation, in particular, turns out to have some substance to it.
I understand that it is hard to be shocked after all that has been brought to light. I’m in the same place as all of you.
But Myers is different. He is an very Orthodox Archbishop, part of Opus Dei’s priestly order of the Holy Cross, a leader in the Pro-Life movement see http://www.opinionjournal.com/taste/?id=110005634
and is focused on the important things see http://www.rcan.org/archbish/jjm_letters/fathersmakeknownto3-97.htm
Now, I’m not naive, I know these characteristics does not make one “bulletproof”, as we are all sinners. But the idea that someone could lead and active homosexual life in the midst of fighting the good fight, I believe, is absurd.
danb-
thats what I was getting at. I’ve spent some time with Opus Dei in the past and its not the kind of organization that you can just walk into, show up for meetings, and live a secret double-life.
For the record, Myers is not a “priest of Opus Dei” per se, but the Priestly Society of the Holy Cross is a group of diocesan-bound priests that receive formation from and have a certain association to Opus Dei.