Category: Priests In Trouble

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Parish in shock as priest found dead in home

The town of Ballina has been rocked by the sudden death of a local priest in what is believed to be the first case in recent years of a Catholic cleric in Ireland taking his own life.
Residents in the Co Mayo town yesterday expressed shock at news of the death of Fr Muredach Tuffy, a popular curate and director of the Newman Institute — an educational centre known as Ballina’s “Catholic university”.

The body of the 39-year-old was discovered early yesterday in his apartment, attached to the institute at Cathedral Close.

Local sources said no foul play was involved.

Fellow priests in Ballina and the Diocese of Killala were too upset to comment when contacted by the Irish Examiner yesterday.

Fr Gerard O’Hora, the parish priest of Ballina and spokesman for the Bishop of Killala, Dr John Fleming, was also unavailable.

A native of Castleconnor, Co Sligo, where he was ordained in 1999, Fr Tuffy had worked as director of the Newman Institute since 2003 and has been instrumental in its development and growth into a centre for adult religious education.

He was also the diocesan director of pastoral renewal and diocesan vocations director, as well as lecturing in applied theology at the Newman Institute. He also acted as Bishop Fleming’s spokesman.

Fr Tuffy officiated at the wedding of a friend in his home town of Castleconnor last Saturday.

Local Fianna Fáil TD Dara Calleary, who attended school with Fr Tuffy at St Muredach’s College in Ballina, said Ballina was “shocked beyond belief”.

Enniskillen-based priest and well-known broadcaster Fr Brian D’Arcy spoke earlier this week about the pressures of being a priest in Ireland amid the fallout of various clerical sexual abuse scandals, as well as grappling with controversial Church teaching on issues such as clerical celibacy, contraception, and homosexuality.

The Association of Catholic Priests yesterday expressed disappointment and sadness at the response of the Hierarchy to their request for greater engagement with the group about the future of the Church.

The organisation claimed there was often a “palpable sense of dejection, depression and sometimes almost despair when clergy gather as a group”.

The Irish Episcopal Conference told the ACP that engagement would best be conducted at local level using established structures.

Complete Article HERE!

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More sex charges filed against priest removed from St. Paul church

A priest who had been charged with criminal sexual misconduct now faces 17 counts of possessing child pornography, Ramsey County authorities said Tuesday.

The Rev. Curtis Wehmeyer, 48, of Oakdale, was removed as pastor of Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church in St. Paul in June amid an investigation into child sex assault.

During the summer of 2010, Wehmeyer allegedly brought two young brothers to his camper trailer, parked in the lot of the church, and showed the boys, then 12 and 14, pornographic movies.

He gave them alcohol and marijuana as he allegedly molested one and exposed himself to the other, according to the complaint filed in late September.

“As the parish priest for this family, the defendant betrayed a sacred trust and forever marred the innocence of two young victims,” Ramsey County Attorney John Choi said Tuesday. “We will pursue justice for the family, as well as the community.”

After he was arrested in June at the church rectory, Wehmeyer saw the boys’ mother and told her that he intended to plead guilty.

The complaint filed Monday details pornographic images showing nude prepubescent boys alone and engaged in sexual acts with each other.

Investigators allegedly found the videos and photos on the priest’s laptop computer, in a closet in the rectory, while executing a search warrant in July.

Each of the 17 counts is punishable by up to five years in prison and/or a fine of up to $5,000.

The earlier charges are second-degree criminal sexual conduct and two counts of gross misdemeanor fifth-degree criminal sexual conduct.

Wehmeyer was ordained in 2001 and served as associate priest at St. Joseph Catholic Church in West St. Paul from 2001 to 2006. Since 2006 he had served at Blessed Sacrament.

The Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis released a statement after the September charges were filed, saying it “deeply regrets the pain caused by clergy misconduct or by others within the Church, and is offering its support and assistance to all concerned.”

Complete Article HERE!

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Popular priest found dead in rectory

The body of a popular Catholic priest known for ministering to police and the poor was found Saturday afternoon in the rectory of St. Lawrence Catholic Church on East Delevan Avenue.

The Rev. Joseph F. Moreno Jr., 54, was found dead in his room shortly before 4 p.m., police said. Several sources said he committed suicide.

Despite those reports, Buffalo Police spokesman Michael J. DeGeorge said Saturday night that an investigation into the cause is still ongoing.

“At this time, homicide detectives do not believe foul play was involved,” DeGeorge said. “An autopsy will be performed to determine an exact cause of death.”

Moreno, who was sacramental minister at St. Lawrence Parish in Buffalo, was known as a gregarious priest who would deliver pizzas in emergencies, gather food for the poor and respond to the needs of Buffalo police officers.

“He’s extremely, extremely well beloved,” Monsignor David G. LiPuma, priest secretary to Bishop Richard J. Malone and vice chancellor of the Catholic Diocese of Buffalo, told reporters Saturday. “He never said no to anyone, and he was there for every person at every station in life, whatever they needed. He seemed to always be present and always be able to help people in one way or another.”

LiPuma, who was called to the church shortly after Moreno’s body was found, offered a Mass in St. Lawrence on Saturday, where about 40 parishioners and law enforcement officers gathered after learning of his death.

“You can go on and on about the amount of lives that this one priest has touched,” LiPuma said. “And so right now, we’re just storming heaven with prayer for the peaceful repose of his soul. We’re just asking the Lord to give great comfort to all those who are mourning his loss and are trying to deal with this tragic, tragic loss right now.”

Moreno, of Buffalo, served a number of parishes in the diocese, but was in the process of being transferred to another assignment from St. Lawrence Parish, Kevin Keenan, a spokesman for the Diocese of Buffalo, said. His new assignment had yet to be determined.

Parishioners earlier this week wrote to Malone expressing concern about the transfer and for his welfare.

“We love, respect and hold our Father Joseph Moreno in the highest regard,” about two-dozen parishioners said in the letter, a copy of which was provided to The News.

In addition to his work in various parishes and at St. Francis Nursing Home, Moreno was known for ministering to area police.

In a 1997 interview with The Buffalo News, Moreno recalled one of his toughest calls as a police chaplain came when Genesee Station Officer Charles E. “Skip” McDougald was fatally shot and his partner, Officer Michael Martinez, was wounded.

Several officers guarding the Northhampton Street shooting scene smiled and could be heard saying, “There’s Father Joe,” as they stepped up to greet the priest, who had arrived with hot coffee, doughnuts and soothing words that it was “OK to grieve.”

He was honored in 1998 by the Buffalo Police Benevolent Association for his service.

“Being a priest is an honor that God gives, one we don’t deserve,” Moreno told The Buffalo News at that time. “I’m able to walk into officers’ lives at difficult times and be trusted. I’m able to see what makes them tick, and it has truly humbled me and made me a better priest.”

Not only was Moreno known for providing people comfort with his words, but with food.

He was a familiar sight at police district stations, entering with pizzas, chicken wings and a “thanks” for the work police perform.

“Joe had a way of not only feeding people with his love and his great heart, but physically feeding them,” LiPuma said. “If they were hungry, he found a way to get them food. He loved pizza, so that was his signature piece.”

In 2009, Moreno and St. Lawrence Catholic Church also organized a giant delivery of pizzas to flood victims and emergency workers, after the flooding in the villages of Cattaraugus and Gowanda.

“I’m half Italian and I try to Italianize the world through food,” Moreno told The Buffalo News in a 1997 interview. “You can never have enough food.”

Moreno was ordained to the priesthood in April 1986 in Holy Spirit Church in Buffalo.

Malone, who was in Portland, Maine, on Saturday, said Moreno was “affable, unpretentious and had a giving heart.”

“It is with profound sadness to learn of the passing of Father Joseph Moreno, a faithful priest of the Diocese of Buffalo since 1986,” Malone said in a statement released by the Diocese. “Father Joe was dedicated to the priesthood, especially when it came to serving others. His presence to the parishioners of St. Lawrence made him much beloved.”

Funeral arrangements will be announced at a later date, Keenan said.

Complete Article HERE!

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Chilean bishop resigns amid sex abuse inquiry

The pope yesterday accepted the resignation of a Chilean bishop who is under investigation by the Vatican for the alleged sexual abuse of a minor.

The resignation of Bishop Marco Antonio Ordenes Fernandez of Iquique, Chile, marks one of the few times that the Vatican has acknowledged publicly it was investigating a bishop for sex abuse allegations. Advocates for clerical sex abuse victims have long complained the Vatican has looked the other way when bishops have been accused of abuse or of covering it up.

The Vatican said yesterday that the pope has accepted Ordenes’ resignation under the code of canon law that says a bishop must resign if he is sick or because some other “grave” reason makes him unsuitable for his job.

The 47-year-old Ordenes suffers from a liver ailment and has been seeking medical treatment. But the Vatican Embassy in Santiago confirmed Oct. 2 that it had been investigating Ordenes since April and was offering psychological and other care to “those affected.”

The Vatican spokesman, Federico Lombardi, said the link between the resignation and the investigation “can be considered obvious.”

Ordenes is accused of abusing a 15-year-old altar boy in the northern city of Iquique.

The former bishop admits he had “an imprudent act” with his accuser but says that he met him in 1999 when he was 17 and they had a relationship when he was no longer underage.

“My conscience is clear before God, and that’s what matters,” Ordenes told Chilean newspaper La Tercera in a recent interview.

His accuser, Rodrigo Pino, 30, said the abuse began when he was 15. At first, he said it was forced, but then they became lovers.

The Associated Press doesn’t normally name victims of alleged sexual abuse, but Pino has gone public with his claims.

“We began a friendship because I showed him my interest in becoming a priest. I became very involved with him, and then the abuses began,” Pino told Chilean ADN radio. “He would tell me that he was like a father to me and I was like his son, his lover, his brother and friend. … At first the abuse was forced because I was a boy who fell in love.”

The Vatican Embassy is taking charge of the investigation because Ordenes is a bishop. Usually, a priest accused of sexually abusing children is investigated by his bishop, who then sends the case to the Vatican for review if he finds a semblance of truth to the accusations.

Lombardi said the fact the case was now before the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, which handles cases of clerics accused of the sexual abuse of minors, indicates the investigation concerns the allegation that Ordenes abused Pino when he was underage.

A handful of U.S. bishops have resigned after facing sex abuse allegations. More recently, the then-bishop of Bruges, Belgium, Roger Vangheluwe, quit in 2010 after admitting he had molested his nephew for years starting when he a young boy. The Vatican later sanctioned him.

Earlier this year, the Vatican laicized a Canadian bishop who was convicted of child porn possession.

Complete Article HERE!

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US Roman Catholic priest is reported missing in Greece

The aunt of a Roman Catholic priest missing in Greece said she fears her nephew is dead but holds out hope because he is known for surviving against great odds.

Sister Marcianne Kappes, a professor at St. Gregory’s University in Shawnee and a Carmelite Sister of St. Therese from Villa Teresa Catholic School in Oklahoma City, said the details of her nephew’s disappearance are sketchy but that his family is sure he is in trouble.

The Rev. Christiaan Kappes, 36, told family members he feared for his life earlier this week. He was dropped off at an airport in Athens on Monday but never boarded the plane and has not been seen since, Sister Kappes said on Thursday.

“I’m waiting from a call from my four younger brothers to find out the latest,” she said. “Either he’s dead or he’s managed to go into hiding, but if they’re holding him I think he’s dead.”

Kappes, who is attached to the Archdiocese of Indianapolis, Ind., has been attending the University of Athens for about three years, said Greg Otolski, a spokesman for the archdiocese.

He was sent there at the request of the Vatican, which is trying to improve relationships between the Roman Catholic Church and Orthodox churches, Otolski told the Indianapolis Star.

The church, the U.S. State Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation have been notified of his disappearance.

Sister Kappes said her nephew may have gotten into trouble through his translator, but said she’s heard differing reports about his disappearance and declined to speculate further.

Kappes told his family on Monday that he and his translator, a Greek woman, were in danger from her family, who was seeking to take away inheritance money, according to the Star.

A man known for immersing himself in some of the world’s poorest areas, Sister Kappes said her nephew is well-traveled and has escaped trouble before.

A member of the national exhibition wrestling team in the 1980s, he spent a week without food in Eastern Europe after the fall of communism, she said. He previously spent a year working with the poor in Mexico.
“I never give up hope to the last minute, and even to the last minute my family is a little crazy — we believe in life after death, and we believe we will see each other again,” Sister Kappes said.

Her nephew visited Oklahoma City for wrestling clinics nearly every year when he was young, and was well known to some of the monks at St. Gregory’s despite not having visited for the past decade or so.
On Thursday, the university in Shawnee held a special mass to support him.

“I think the interesting thing about Chris is, no matter where he is he works with the poor,” she said. “He’s the kind of guy that is multifaceted; he’s equally at home with a group of dignitaries as he is working with orphaned gypsy boys. You know, you hate to lose kids like him for the world.”

Complete Article HERE!