what did he know and when did he know it

By Diogenes ( articles ) | Sep 29, 2006

OK, so now federal prosecutors are investigating the Connecticut priest who allegedly defrauded his parish to the tune of $1.4 million, reportedly spending the money on fun and games with his boyfriend. But parishioners are asking another question: Shouldn't Bridgeport's Bishop William Lori have noticed that Father Michael Jude Fay was carrying on openly with a male wedding planner?

"The Church cannot publicly respond to rumors and speculation," Bishop Lori says. Fair enough. But parishioners say the affair was blatant. "He became more overt; he was not hiding anything," one tells the Stamford Advocate.

"While these matters may have been the subject of gossip, they were never reported to the diocese," Lori wrote in August.

You and I don't know what was "reported to the diocese." But we do know that Father Fay and his boyfriend were pictured in Philadelphia Style magazine, responding to a question about their "most romantic Philadelphia dining experience." If it's published in a mass-circulation magazine, does that constitute a "report to the diocese?"