Embattled Newark priest resigns from active ministry
May 03, 2013
Father Michael Fugee, whose continued contact with young children had provoked a storm of criticism for the Newark archdiocese, has resigned from priestly ministry.
Father Fugee, who had once confessed to sexual abuse, had entered into an agreement with New Jersey prosecutors, promising that he would not have unsupervised contact with young people. But the Newark Star-Ledger revealed that he had continued to work with young people in spite of that agreement. The revelation led to angry denunciations of the archdiocese (which had also been a party to the agreement), and calls for the resignation of Archbishop John Myers.
After originally defending the accused priest’s activities, the Newark archdiocese announced on May 2 that Fugee had submitted his resignation from active ministry, and Archbishop Myers had promptly accepted it.
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Further information:
- Priest at center of Newark Archdiocese scandal quits ministry (Star-Ledger)
- Newark archdiocese still stands by accused priest (CWN, 4/30)
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Posted by: Jtpascual8900 -
May. 06, 2013 4:59 PM ET USA
I am surpised and very disappointed that you only get your "facts" from the Newark Star-Ledger, a paper only interested in bringing down the Catholic Church and Archbishop Myers. Before you are so quick to condenm this priest and Archbishop Myers try to get the real facts of the story.
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Posted by: rfwilliams2938 -
May. 06, 2013 9:01 AM ET USA
when will they get it?! Our kids are the MOST precious thing we are blessed with. and to make matters worse by clouding the issue with legal arguments like some big corporation.
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Posted by: Frodo1945 -
May. 05, 2013 9:20 AM ET USA
Same old same old... No accountability among the bishops. Gee, will this never end?
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Posted by: John J Plick -
May. 05, 2013 9:00 AM ET USA
Posted by: Savonarola - May. 04 Agreed. This is a travesty. To me we have indeed reached a practical threshold for the Catholic Church in America and indeed in a sense for Vatican II as well... and it has little to do with "orthodoxy" and "theology...," rather it has to do with our recognition and response to evil itself... Will we continue in a VI mentality, allowing bishops to disassemble, or will we embrace our rights (VII)and demand an accounting?
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Posted by: hartwood01 -
May. 04, 2013 5:09 PM ET USA
Beyond outrageous. As I've said before,how can we trust our children to people who have no regard for them. My parish takes the guidelines for child safety seriously,but do people know when the rules are ignored?
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Posted by: -
May. 04, 2013 11:56 AM ET USA
For goodness sake, it is obvious that Abp Myers and Goodness should both resign, now. This is yet another black eye for the Church and doesn't help toward the "New Evangelization."
