Posted on 12/04/2007 1:35:07 PM PST by NYCCatholic
Monsignor removed from parish after admitting misconduct from 30 years ago BY PETER KADUSHIN and ALISON GENDAR DAILY NEWS WRITERS
Tuesday, December 4th 2007, 4:00 AM
A Brooklyn monsignor has been yanked from his parish after admitting "inappropriate behavior" with up to five young people more than 30 years ago, authorities said.
Msgr. George Zatarga, 65, admitted allegations of sexual misconduct when he was a relatively new priest in the Diocese of Brooklyn in the late 1970s, according to a letter the Bishop of Brooklyn Nicholas DiMarzio sent to Zatarga's flock.
A law enforcement source said investigators also were checking out more recent abuse allegations. Zatarga served as chaplain at Bishop Loughlin Memorial High School in Brooklyn from 1971 to 1979, and chaplain at Archbishop Molloy High School in Queens from 1979 to 1989.
An adult victim broke the silence with a call to the diocese's toll-free sexual assault hotline two weeks ago, authorities said.
Zatarga admitted the misconduct and resigned over the weekend as pastor of the American Martyrs parish in Bayside, Queens, a post he had held for the past two years.
None of the alleged abuse took place at American Martyrs, said diocesan spokesman Frank DeRosa. Diocesan officials declined to name where Zatarga worked when the alleged assault occurred.
"The faith is great but something obviously went wrong," said a parishioner at American Martyrs, who gave his name only as Michael. "There's a problem in the church right now and something needs to be done. It is unacceptable that he could do something like that."
Zatarga is at a counseling center outside of the diocese, and the allegations have been turned over to the Brooklyn district attorney's office for investigation, DeRosa said.
The statute of limitations for sexual abuse is five years, law enforcement sources said.
He has been placed on administrative leave, meaning that he cannot present himself as a priest, wear clerical garb, celebrate the Mass or administer sacraments publicly. He will be allowed to celebrate Mass privately.
Zatarga was ordained in June 1968. He left Archbishop Molloy to serve Christ the King Church in Queens from 1989 to 1999. He served as the vicar for senior priests - ministering to retired priests from 1999 to 2005 before coming to American Martyrs.
Other American Martyrs parishioners said Zatarga was known for taking month-long vacations, including a ski trip to Colorado, and for an offbeat sense of humor.
agendar@nydailynews.com
One-by-one, the house is being cleaned out.
I had friends who went to Bishop Loughlin and I'm really sorry to hear this. But I'm glad something is being done.
Has anybody noticed how many of these "cold cases" are suddenly being resolved on an order from Rome?
I'm hoping some of the current or recent cases will be next.
This is good. It should be tried out in Minn. :)
“Dans ce pay-ci, il est bon de tuer de temps en temps un amiral pour encourager les autres.” Voltaire
The celebration of Mass aside, my observations on clerical dress suggest that he was probably doing most of this already.
Too many priests refuse to where the clerical garb or do so only spasmodically, such as to certain Church functions and one can only assume that it's because they don't want to present themselves as priests. In the supermarket they're dressed in slacks and sweater, more often than not.
It would likely have been more of a penance if he'd been ordered to wear the Roman dog collar 24/7.
The Catholic Church has never used the term "defrocked." Non-Catholics usually use it to refer to a priest who is "dismissed from the clerical state" or "laicized," meaning that he has been perminently prohibited from functioning as a priest, even though the sacramental character of his priesthood is ontological in nature and cannot be taken away.
According to the story, however, his has not yet heppened (and could not happen is such a short time). Only the Holy See can relieve a priest from the obligations and rights of the clerical state. According to this story, the priest in question has been relieved of his parish assignment and is not performing any ministerial tasks. Whatever "defrocked" means in anyone's lexicon, it doesn't mean that; so the title of the article is quite wrong.
Point taken and noted.
Wait for the "young fogeys" to come of age. They by and large will begin to set this right.
ROFL!!! Ditto for the 'out there' nuns with links to the UN on their web sites but not to the Vatican.
Pruning the dead wood. No matter how much pruning it takes.........
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