Posted on 11/23/2005 7:56:08 PM PST by markomalley
By 2003, Monsignor Dale Fushek’s star was rising so fast, the Tribune named the Mesa priest one of the "10 People to Watch" in the coming years. It may have been prophetic. The pastor of the dynamic St. Timothy’s Catholic Community was preaching to 8,000 a weekend.
He had just gained the coveted monsignor title and had been been advanced to vicar-general for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Phoenix. He oversaw construction of the stately Diocesan Pastoral Center. He co-founded the international Catholic youth program, Life Teen, and launched the highly respected Paz de Cristo homeless kitchen and ministry in Mesa.
He designed the worship service for Pope John Paul II’s Mass in Tempe’s Sun Devil Stadium in 1987, then chaperoned Mother Teresa in 1989 in her Valley search for a Missionaries of Charity house site.
And it looked as if Fushek, with his sparkling credentials and personable gifts, was the heir-apparent for bishop appointed by the pope for this diocese.
It was not to be.
Now, the 53-year-old priest is under house arrest in his Phoenix apartment, ordered to have no contact with youth, stripped of his passport, and no longer holding an assignment in the diocese.
On Monday, he was booked on 10 misdemeanor charges of sexual misconduct with boys and men between 1984 and 1994. They include three counts of assault, two of indecent exposure and five of contributing to the delinquency of a minor. He is scheduled to be arraigned Dec. 6.
"I am hanging in there. It’s unbelievable," Fushek said Tuesday by telephone from his home, but declined to be interviewed. He said he was awaiting the Monday return of his attorney, Michael Manning, who is out of the country.
Manning was the diocese’s lawyer two years ago when it was being challenged to come clean about past sexual misconduct by priests.
Fushek resigned last spring from St. Timothy’s on the heels of a civil lawsuit alleging he had participated in an sexual assault in 1985 on a Life Teen youth.
Still, Fushek’s supporters stand by the priest.
"This man is guided by the Holy Spirit. He is filled with the spirit," said Maruja Vargas of Chandler, who went to the Life Teen Masses on Sunday nights. "The man at every Mass was saying ‘I love you.’ This guy’s strength is because he is guided by the Holy Spirit."
"I pray the truth comes out soon and that no one forgets the thousands and thousands of wonderful things monsignor did for the teens and families of Mesa in the past 20 years," said Nancy J. Ross, who worked in Life Teen retreats.
"I saw many, many miracles during those retreats. Monsignor always spoke the truth to the kids, even when the truth was not what they wanted to hear. He taught the entire parish what a blessing our teens are to us and to the community," Ross said.
Fushek’s strength was "that he always led with the truth," said Vince Roig of Gilbert, chairman of the Life Teen board of directors. "He is a very charismatic individual who, I think, represents the Catholic Church very, very well and has in the past," he said.
Roig credited the priest’s successes to consistently "being up-front." He credits Fushek for influencing at least one youth not to commit suicide.
The priest came to the parish in 1985 "at a difficult time and frankly worked marvels," Roig said. "As a parishioner I was very, very pleased with the way he shepherded the parish."
"He inspired confidence in people," said Sue Ringler of Tempe, the first director of Paz de Cristo, which got its start in 1987 out of Fushek’s passion to serve the poor.
"He truly cared about people, he truly wanted folks to understand how faith makes you really be able to embrace your life and maybe take risks you wouldn’t take," said Ringler, who said she has no sympathy for sexual abusers. She was a victim in her childhood. She said the priest had a real love for wanting teens to feel closer to God.
Phoenix attorney Jim Cunningham negotiated a $45,000 out-of-court settlement for a young male who accused the priest of sexual harassment. At that time, in 1995, he said he warned the diocese that Fushek’s behavior could be an ongoing problem.
"Of course, nothing was done," Cunningham said.
Cunningham is the brother of the Rev. John Cunningham, who was suspended in April 2004 from his pastorate at St. Mary Magdalene parish in Gilbert on a complaint that he permitted a non-Catholic priest to concelebrate Mass at a wedding, in violation of canonical law. It was Fushek who delivered the bishop’s suspension papers to John Cunningham.
I am very impressed with Bishop Olmsted's response and timeliness in this issue. Hopefully his (as opposed to O'Brien's) response will serve as an example for the way that this type of issue should be dealt with!
I live immediately behind this church and have to put up with the cacophony of their all-too-common outdoor masses. Their rock-concert sized speakers are ridiculous since they are in the middle of a neighborhood. Sadly, they are not very good neighbors. But it sounds like the decibel level isn't their worst problem.
BTTT
So how do you feel about that stupendous Christmas decoration competition every year down the street? LOL!
HA! I feel SO sorry for the nearby homeowners -- the whole neighborhood is like a parking lot. They get more attendence than a season of Cardinals games.
That many, huh?
Under what circumstances is sexual assault a misdemeanor? ALL of these charges are misdemeanors, it appears.
In Texas, sexual assault is always and everywhere a state felony.
Not to minimize any of these charges, but the timing and status smell fishy, to me, given who this priest is.
I found this very sad. the reality is that this has been a problem for a LONG time in the Catholic church. I don't know who I am more enraged with..the priests who violated others' trust or the clergy who kept all this going on and on.
Yuk! It's time Catholics quit making excuses for this nightmare.
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Of course it looks bad, the American media are reporting it, after all.
I've learned to reserve judgement on these cases, it's become all too easy for anyone to accuse a priest of molestation these days.... there's a lot of money in it when the Church decides to pay rather than fight an ugly, protracted battle in court. Honesty, I don't think the Catholic Church knows how to defend itself, it's just not set up that way.
In the Boston Archdiocese several of the accused priests were found not guilty, but as of yet nobody in the media has volunteered to clear their good names.
I don't only get reports from the media, I live next door to this church. In addition, the County Attorney is a strong moral conservative who is no Catholic basher. Innocent until proven guilty, but I'll repeat myself -- it looks bad.
I have reserved judgement about this until I learned the details. This involves a pattern of behavior over a long period of time. I pray he receives justice.
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Be pissed at Bishop O'Brien (he's currently doing time, from my understanding). From what I understand, there were calls from priests within the Phoenix diocese for years for this guy's removal. Those calls went unheeded.
I am surprised to read that last paragraph. It sounds as if there may be another side to the story, and I'm amazed the media would even acknowledge that possibility.
Maybe a personality like Bill Clinton's : a magnetic personality, but an unsteady character. As for his defenders, look at the Michael Jackson fans.
..how do you live 'immediately behind'...
..and #11, 'next door'...?
I am surprised to read that last paragraph. It sounds as if there may be another side to the story, and I'm amazed the media would even acknowledge that possibility.
Check out this part of an article from a couple of years ago: Priests split on handling abuse (Az Republic, 2002)
Two priests used the survey to vent frustrations with Monsignor Dale J. Fushek, vicar general of the Phoenix Diocese and co-founder of LifeTeen, the nation's largest Catholic youth organization. Fushek acknowledged this year that he settled a sexual-harassment suit with a male LifeTeen employee out of court for $45,000.
"Msgr. Dale Fushek should be removed," one priest wrote.
Another wrote: "Msgr. Dale Fushek from St. Timothy's should resign."
Neither cited any reason for the sentiment or even why they brought up the issue. Nothing in the survey alluded to Fushek, LifeTeen or his parish, St. Timothy's in Mesa.
So, apparently, this is not a new or closely held secret.
Quite easily... it means the same thing. We share my backyard fence. As a matter of fact, as I type, they are BLASTING music for yet another impromptu service they never thought to warn us about. My windows began to shake when they turned on the speakers. I'm tempted to install a huge sign above my fence that says "Love thy neighbor"...
..sorry about the noise.
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