Disgraced priest's partner was gay recording artist
April 25, 2014
The romantic partner of a prominent New Hampshire priest who faces jail time for defrauding his diocese is a male recording artist, the Manchester Union Leader has disclosed.
Msgr. Edward Arsenault, a former chancellor of the Manchester diocese and head of the St. Luke Institute, reportedly spent tens of thousands of dollars on Luke Parkin, a young composer and performer. Prosecutors in New Hampshire said that early reports that the priest had been blackmailed were inaccurate, and that the spending was consensual.
In a statement released in conjunction with the plea-bargaining sentencing of Msgr. Arsenault, the Manchester diocese had identified the priest's partner only as "an adult."
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Further information:
- Arsenault boyfriend's expenses billed to diocese (Union Leader)
- Former chancellor of NH diocese, head of treatment center, will serve jail time (CWN, 4/23)
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Posted by: Gregory108 -
Apr. 27, 2014 3:11 PM ET USA
I agree! How do these folks become monsignors or bishops or even archbishops? I can see ordaining a priest and then the man goes wrong, but how do these folks rise to higher levels or authority or honor? Doesn't anyone know what they are doing in their free time? No one???
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Posted by: jg23753479 -
Apr. 26, 2014 11:48 PM ET USA
I understand feedback's post. Unfortunately, the diocese of Manchester has been plagued -- before the advent of our most recent bishop -- with a wholesale SODOMITE scandal of major proportions. Good heterosexual priests have been harassed and driven from their ministries by a cabal of perverts, all under the watchful eye of people like Eddy Arsenault. Many here are outraged by what we have seen, and outraged that the bishop who presided over this fiasco now enjoys a peaceful retirement.
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Posted by: feedback -
Apr. 26, 2014 8:25 AM ET USA
The diocesan statement went to great lengths to conceal the gender of that costly "adult" lover. Quietly I was hoping that the mighty Monsignor's bedmate was female.
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Posted by: jg23753479 -
Apr. 25, 2014 8:02 PM ET USA
There has been so much deception and fraud in the career of Arsenault, so much bitterness and resentment caused by his actions BEFORE he was revealed to be a criminal, that it is essential to publish ALL the details of this sordid affair; THAT is the utility of making known the name and profession of his "partner". And a pertinent question begs to be asked, viz. why after all the scandal and criminality that plagued the diocese of Manchester, NH, was this man made a monsignor by Benedict XVI?
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Posted by: normnuke -
Apr. 25, 2014 4:42 PM ET USA
I must say I don't see the utility in making known the name and job of Arsenault's partner.
