Gay priests of Diocese A-J in revolt; demand Bishop conceal molesters, sue Catholic activists

Written press release mailed to diocesan bishop, priests, media outlets of Diocese of Altoona-Johnst | 5/15/03 | Priests Federation of Altoona-Johnstown

[Polycarp]

[bold emphasis in original document]

Priests Federation of Altoona-Johnstown

Johnstown, Pennsylvania

Dear Sisters and Brothers in the Lord:

Whereas the rights and dignity of priests in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown are threatened by forces both external to the community of believers and internally by our bishop and his staff.

Whereas, in response to this threat, the Priests Federation of Altoona-Johnstown was secretly formed by 26 clrgy of this Diocese to demand the rights and dignity of all priests be respected and protected by our bishop.

Therefore, we, the Priests Federation of Altoona-Johnstown, joined with our fellow clergy, ask the following from our bishop:

Whereas our bishop insists on publicly defending lawsuits against this diocese and thus increasing the threat that more names of our priests be exposed in the media, we demand that our bishop cease and desist his public defense of any and all lawsuits concerning alleged priestly misconduct and instead settle these cases out of court so as to protect the reputation and well being of those priests so named and others that may be revealed in the course of any trial.

Whereas our bishop threatens and harasses homosexual priests into fearing for their office, we demand that our bishop cease and desist any and all harassment of homosexual clergy and instead work to protect the reputation and well being of clergy of all sexual orientations.

Whereas our bishop placates those who attack our diocese and its priests, we demand that our bishop turn the attention of his legal representation towards stopping the hateful and homophobic actions of George Foster, Brian Barcaro, Dr. Brian Kopp [FReeper "Polycarp"], et. al., who are set upon destroying the reputations of homosexuals priests and this diocese.

Whereas our bishop ignores the actions of certain priests who consistently act against the unity of this diocese, we demand our bishop suspend Fr. James Foster and Fr. John Nesbella immediately, for repeated and constant acts which threaten the unity of our community of faith.

Whereas our bishop removed Dr. David Brown [of "GoodBye, Good Men" book fame] from his position as intake psychologist and from candidacy for the permanent diaconate program due to the incessant demands of several Talibanic conservative clergy and laity, we demand our bishop reinstate Dr. Brown both to his position as intake psychologist and to the permanent dioconate program.

Whereas our bishop has ordained several men to the priesthood over the last several year who are unfit to serve the modern, post-concilular (sic) church, we demand our bishop conduct a complete review and overhaul of the priestly recruitment program:

I. Review the psychological reports of the men ordained since 1995 and order to counseling all those who are deemed to have serious mental deficiencies or proven inability to serve in the church of Vatican II.

II. Cease and desist sending seminarians to the present rigid seminaries used by our diocese and begin to use more pastoral seminaries for formation.

III. Deny orders to the present candidate for ordination to the priesthood because of a very negative psychological report and his inability to serve the present day church.

IV. Examine all present and future seminarians in greater psychological depth to determine their fitness and desire to serve the modern church.

We believe that it is better to have fewer clergy and more lay involvement than to have many rigid and juridical priests who drive women and men away from the community of believers.

Whereas the present staff our (sic) diocesan finance office (Larry Sutton, et. al.) shows no respect for our clergy and little if any knowledge of the day to day life of our clergy and our parishes, we demand that our bishop retrain or replace the staff of the finance office so as to respect the dignity of our clergy and their office.

Whereas our chancery shows little care or concern for our retired priests at Dimitri Manor or elsewhere, we demand that our bishop review and overhaul the priests retirement program so as to provide them with the comfortable retirement due to them after many years of thankless service:

I. Immediately increase the present monthly retirement benefit payment to $1,500.00.

II. Fully fund all future retirement needs 20 years into the future in a pension trust fund so as to guarantee monthly payments regardless of the future financial state of the diocese.

III. Separate all retirement monies from diocesan funds so as to protect them from being taken in lawsuits.

IV. Immediately form a committee to examine the deplorable living conditions at the Dimitri Manor priests retirement home.

Whereas the compensation of our priests under the present formula is inherently unjust as priests whose workload is heavy due to parish size are paid the same as priests in small parishes, we demand that our bishop install a new payscale to reflect a more appropriate and just salary based on workload and parish size.

We believe this list of demands is the same list Jesus himself would ask for if he were a priest of this diocese.

If our requests are not met, we ask our fellow clergy to prayerfully consider ways of peaceful protest. Ech should follow his or her conscience in discerning ways to show civil disobedience to our hierarchy until our voice of change is heard.

Sincerely in Christ,

Priests Federation of Altoona-Johnstown

N.B.: The PFAJ is a group of priests of the Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown united in a pursuit of justice and sworn to complete secrecy to avert the very real threat of retaliation by our diocesan bishop.

CC:
Brother Priests & Deacons
Concerned Laity
National Catholic Reporter
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Johnstown Tribune-Democrat
Altoona Mirror
Centre Daily Times
WTAJ TV
WJAC TV
WWCP TV
WRTA Radio
WNTJ Radio
WRSC Radio

[mercy]

****If it is otherwise then the Apostolic Succession is worthless.****

I think history has already proven that Apostolic Succession has no grounding in biblical truth. The chain has been broken so many times I think it is proven never to have been a chain at all. Christ is alive. He has twelve Apostles.

[fatima]

I work with many priests,work load is 2 full days.Cure of Ars a little different.

[TotusTuus]

Christos Voskrese!

Ummm, I'm shocked. I think I want to cry. Definitely need to pray. You say they monitor this site? Then to the authors of this self-centered, selfish, adolescent raving, may I make a plea in the name of Christ?

Repent! Come back home! Do you not realize that you are placing yourselves at the very brink of hell where you could be lost forever? Your Eternal Salvation, the goal of your very being that Christ suffered the Cross to gain for you, is on the line. His mercy is endless. Turn back to Him and reach out for it! I beg and pray for this on your behalf.

We believe this list of demands is the same list Jesus himself would ask for if he were a priest of this diocese.

Really?

What is the source of your belief? I do not joke when I say may it be damned. Sent back to the where it came from. When did Jesus ever "demand" anything from any of us? Jesus is the High Priest of all Creation, why do you feel your diocese is exempt? In point of fact, He desires to exercise His Priesthood through you. You all don't seem to feel He can do that.

You all freely took vows of obedience and chastity, and now you all seem to want to forsake them. If this is still the case after deep recollection and prayer, then do the honest and virtuous thing and resign from the active ministry. Do this for your sake and those whom you would serve (not "demand" from). Not to mention the scandalous embarrassment you project onto Catholics far beyond your own diocese. Or are you all too egocentric to consider that?

Needless to say, I pray for you too Polycarp ;-)

[dsc]

"I don't personally care who or what they're attracted to, as long as they keep their pants up like they promised God they'd do."

Celibacy seems to be very difficult. I don't think I could do it.

I would suspect that a man would need to be mature, with a well-integrated, healthy personality and an active and productive prayer life even to have a hope of it.

Attraction to the same sex is fundamentally disordered. A person who suffers from such a disorder I think would have a much more difficult time with celibacy than a healthy man.

Then, too, if a man is willing to defy the teachings of the Church to the extent of insisting that same-sex desires are healthy and pleasing to God, which is a huge step, how easy it would seem for him to take the much smaller step of indulging his desires.

In addition, temptation is reduced for heterosexuals by separating the sexes. Boys in this locker room; girls in that. For those suffering from SSAD, this social practice not only increases temptation, but also opportunity.

Since over 90% of the instances of abuse of minors in this scandal are homosexual in nature, it would seem that these factors have very concrete real-world consequences.

I personally don't think that a man whose sexuality is disordered in the first place, and who is deliberately in defiance of God's clearly stated word, has a snowball's chance of keeping his jolly john thomas out of the choir boys.

[sneakers]

It keeps making references to "the modern church" and "today's church". That's the problem. The liberalism of the years following Vatican II created the nice, safe environment for weirdos like these to propogate their perversion and help it grow within our church. Now some folks are waking up and their nest is threatened. I'm in the Greensburg Diocese - next to the Altoona-Johnstown diocese. I wonder if this is going on here as well. God bless those holy priests who speak out against the abomination of homosexuality. They are not afraid to speak the truth.

Priest shortage or not - these perverts have got to go. The Bishop's place in hell is most assuredly guaranteed next to these guys if he does not purge his diocese of these monstrosities.

[Ronly Bonly Jones]

I think history has already proven that Apostolic Succession has no grounding in biblical truth. >

Of course you do, which is why Protestants are not Catholics. It doesn't make your opinion the truth, however. Ahem.

This thread is not on the Reformation, it's about cleaning up the Catholic faith in America. If I wanted Protestantism, I know where I can find it.

[Ex-Wretch]

For they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God. (John 12:43)

[BlackElk]

Polycarp: Given the rebellious and, no doubt, heretical garbage serving as the source of this garbage dump of a press release, may we assume that Fr. James Foster and Fr. John Nesbella ought to be on the list of those to be consecrated bishops in the ongoing effort to cleanse the AmChurch dioceses? Which should get appointed to replace the incumbent disgrace of a bishop in Altoona-Johnstown and which should be considered for the wasteland at Fort Worth?

Then, after submitting names of worthy successors to themselves, the names James Cardinal Foster and John Cardinal Nesbella have a nice ring, don't they?

[BlackElk]

Those WERE the GOOD old days!

[BlackElk]

He's makin' a list and checkin' it twice. Polycarp's gonna know who's naughty or nice. The Catholics are comin' to town.

Way to go!

[narses]

Given a choice, I'd NOT attend any Diocesan Mass where one of these 24 could naturally or supernaturally harm me or my children. Get it?

[maryz]

We're just trying to determine which one is the kingpin.

Good luck, Godspeed, and watch your back!

[BlackElk]

You may well be on to something in your reference to the Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown resembling a San Francisco "gay" bathhouse.

The really remarkable thing is that the bishop, Adamec, as AmChurch left as they come, is actually being criticized from the left by the fudge-obsessive caucus of his priests. Be not confused. This does not make Adamec anything resembling an actual Catholic. He is notorious and one of the very worst of a bad lot of Kumbaya clowns posing as bishops. He threatens to discipline any critics who are conservative. He invites witches to address diocesan conferences and Polycarp, who lives and suffers in Adamec's diocese can fill you in on the rest.

[Remedy]

SODOMY : Investigation clears priest in Spokane, says bishop post #1 suggests that the homosexuality problem with priests is exaggerated. I have read numerous posts since, that indicate otherwise.

[BlackElk]

I must say that your screenname is the very best in show. My admiration and envy know no bounds.

[SoothingDave]

I'm in the Greensburg Diocese - next to the Altoona-Johnstown diocese. I wonder if this is going on here as well.

As am I. Bishop Bosco may be a "don't rock the boat" kind of guy, but he is in no way anything like Adamec. I have seen little reason to question Bosco's orthodoxy. I have serious doubts as to whether Adamec even understands the concept.

SD

[Polycarp]

Its in our local mainstream media, so at least I know we're not victims of some kind of hoax directed only at us conservative Catholics:

Centre Daily Times, State College PA

Fri, May. 16, 2003

Letter calls for ending clergy abuse
By Mike Joseph

mjoseph@centredaily.com

Clergy throughout the Roman Catholic diocese serving Centre County received a letter of demands Thursday concerning clergy sexual-abuse cases, purportedly written by a secret group of 26 diocesan priests.

Bishop Joseph Adamec, head of the Altoona-Johnstown Diocese, received a copy of the letter inasmuch as he is a member of the diocesan clergy, said his spokeswoman, Sister Mary Parks. The diocese refused to comment on the letter because the writers were anonymous.

"We're not going to respond to an anonymous letter," Parks said.

The letter called for the bishop to settle sexual misconduct cases out of court to protect the reputation of priests. The three-page letter was postmarked Wednesday in Johnstown and was received Thursday also by newspapers and TV and radio stations throughout the eight-county diocese.

Signed by the "Priests Federation of Altoona-Johnstown," the letter said the federation is sworn to secrecy. Parks said the diocese knows of no such group.

The letter did not identify Adamec by name but referred repeatedly to "our bishop." Adamec has faced criticism from conservative Catholics, including priests, who say he has not been rigorous enough in keeping abusive priests out of the diocese.

The letter received Thursday expressed another view, saying the conservatives are going too far. The letter said that "our bishop threatens and harasses homosexual priests into fearing for their office."

If the requests are not met, the letter said, clergy will consider "peaceful protest" and show "civil disobedience to our hierarchy."

Altoona lawyer Richard Serbin represents nine alleged victims of clergy sexual misconduct who have filed six complaints in Blair County Court against the diocese. The diocese has filed preliminary objections to the complaints, arguing they should be dismissed on the basis of the statute of limitations. Serbin has filed papers to counter the diocesan objections.

Centre County has seven Catholic churches and more than 14,000 of the 113,000 Catholics in the eight-county diocese. The diocese has about 100 active priests in all.

---

Mike Joseph can be reached at 235-3910.

[Onelifetogive]

If you go back and re-read the post with a lisp, it gives you a much better flavor of the original.

[dsc]

I guess it's a minor point, but it really scorches me that these people think they have any *right* to have their reputations protected, that they think they deserve it.

[BlackElk]

What am I missing here? Homo is the Latin word for man in the sense of mankind as opposed to vir which is used exclusively to mean male persons. A phobia is a fear. Hence homophobia is a fear of mankind. Hence homophobe might reasonably be applied to someone who fears mankind. I have never even once seen this phony word "homophobe" used to describe one who "fears" mankind.

If we make the common error and assert that the homo in homophobe is a reference to those possessed by the inherently disordered orientation of a small percentage of physically male persons unnaturally attracted to other physically male persons, I still don't see the word as appropriate because those who are their critics hardly "fear" them.

Loathe and despise their chosen activity? Certainly! Desire to build a wall between our children and the perversion that once dared not speak its name and now will not shut up? Absolutely. Desire to absolutely marginalize those who would make anal sex between man and woman, man and man, man and beast seem "normal". With all my heart and soul! Kick them out and keep them out of the clergy of the Roman Catholic Church to which I belong? You betcha in spades! FEAR the lavenders????? Not in this lifetime and not in God's lifetime!

The purpose of the word faggot is marginalization. I would marginalize communists, rapists, tax-raising congresscritters, gun-grabbers and I would also marginalize faggots.

The subjective and highly political opinion of the lavenders is their problem and not the problem of normal people. We are the standard. They are the deviation. If their feelings are hurt, tough. So long as they are not doing it in the streets and scaring the horses, they are unlikely to be in any difficulty (just like normal people!).

No one in authority wants them dead, locked up or in concentration camps. Most Americans are more than a little sick of the perpetual lavender campaign to be in our faces 24/7 demanding equality for perversion.

To the extent that you wish to express respect for the lavender queens by calling them homosexuals or "gays" (what on earth is gay about the habitual abuse of the nether end of the digestive sustem?) only, suit yourself. To the extent that you want to marginalize normal folks who marginalize the perversion in question, it is hard to discern a rational excuse for your priorities or how those priorities fit within a conservative rather than a libertine mold.