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	Neighbor Angry over Fushek's New Church By Lawn Griffiths East Valley Tribune April 27, 2008 http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/story/114842 Carl Mawhinney is infuriated at what has come to the 'hood. Dale Fushek, the Catholic priest whom he accuses of sexually related misbehavior with him when he was a young teenager two decades ago, has brought his upstart nondenominational church to within a half-mile of Mawhinney's home in Mesa. The Praise and Worship Center was formed in November by Fushek and Mark Dippre, a former priest who is now married. Before the move to a former movie theater near Southern Avenue and Longmore, services were held periodically on Sunday mornings at the Mesa Convention Center. On April 6, they met for the first time at what is now Fiesta Fountains, a banquet, conference and reception center. Plans call for weekly services at 10 a.m. Sundays. "He is setting up shop in my neighborhood. I can't believe that he is doing this," said Mawhinney, 37, who was shopping at the nearby Target store Sunday when he stumbled upon the service and worshippers' spillover parking in the store lot. Fushek, who was suspended from ministry after he was indicted in November 2005, faces seven misdemeanor sex-related counts involving five minors in the 1980s and early 1990s while he was a priest at St. Timothy's Catholic Community in Mesa. He was also the head of Life Teen, an acclaimed Catholic teen movement he co-founded in 1985. The case has gained national attention because Fushek had not only been vicar general for the diocese, and No. 2 in authority, but the monsignor gained wide respect for his roles in the visits of Pope John Paul II in 1987 and Mother Teresa in 1989. He may be the highest American Catholic leader to be indicted amid the child abuse scandals. Court documents say Fushek, "acting in the capacity of a Catholic priest ... used a relationship of trust to perform criminal acts, including, but not limited to, sexual activities, improper sexual discussions and physical contact." Fushek is charged with one count of assault, five counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor and one count of indecent exposure. Three counts brought by two other complainants were dropped earlier. A pretrial hearing has been set for May 21 in San Tan Justice Court. Fushek was originally to be tried without a jury before a judge, but he appealed to the Arizona Supreme Court for a jury trial. He argued that if he is convicted, his career as a cleric would be doomed because he would have to register as a sex offender. In Mawhinney's case, Fushek is accused of contributing to the delinquency of a minor between December 1984 and December 1988 on the premises of St. Timothy's "involving numerous sexually related discussions" about pleasuring himself and other sexual activities. Further, Mawhinney says the priest's actions misrepresented the Catholic sacrament of confession. Repeated calls to the Praise and Worship Center and to Fushek's unlisted number for responses went unanswered. "This is my neighborhood, and he just moved in," complains Mawhinney, who also contacted the Catholic Diocese of Phoenix to protest. Bishop Thomas Olmsted had ordered Fushek not to engage in public ministry nor be around children, pending resolution of the charges. On Tuesday, the national leaders of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) weighed in, saying they were "distraught" by the developments and that Fushek is opening a new church less than a half-mile from one of his alleged victims. It scolded those who rented space to him and the "dozens of naive churchgoers (who) apparently trust" Fushek. National SNAP leader David Clohessy said his group would soon be writing to the Fiesta Fountains owners and Mesa elected officials "urging them to take some kind of action against Fushek." SNAP has called on Olmsted to stop financial support for the suspended priest, but that ended at the start of the year, said diocesan spokesman Jim Dwyer. "He has disobeyed the bishop's order not to engage in public ministry," Dwyer said. "We certainly are not happy about it," the spokesman continued. "We have made it very clear that it is important for everyone to know that what is going on here is contrary to the teachings of the Catholic Church, and he remains disobedient to the directives of Bishop Olmsted." The diocese has called on Catholics to stay away and to remain with their own parishes to "keep the Holy Mass, the ultimate form of praise and worship." In a news release, Clohessy said he worries about "the innocent kids who may be abused by Fushek and the potential legal liability of organizations that provide him meeting space." But the Praise and Worship Center Web site seeks to address the question, "Because of Rev. Dale's legal situation, will children under 18 be able to attend?" The site's response is that Fushek "has carefully adhered to the current requirement of the justice court of having no contact with individuals less than 18 years of age. The justice has allowed him to attend church and to visit other public places where children may be present." Mawhinney said he stepped into the foyer of Fiesta Fountains on Sunday and asked if it was Fushek's new location. Immediately a man confronted him and told him, "You really need to come here and hear Dale's message. He is awesome, and he is full of the Holy Spirit." "I looked at him and I said, 'I won't be attending this because I am one of the victims that was abused by him,' " Mawhinney said. Mawhinney said he has been undergoing monthly counseling at Holy Spirit Catholic Church in Tempe, where he attends Mass frequently, but he is stepping up the counseling to weekly sessions as the trial approaches. An interesting side note: Fushek and Dippre apparently have the public backing of Mary Jo West, the former news anchorwoman in Valley television who served as the diocese's public information officer for three years until June 2006, during much of the priest abuse investigations. One can listen to the audiotape of the April 13 service, on the theme "The Fruits of the Spirit," and hear Fushek introduce West at the service as "the first lady of Arizona television." He said she would deliver the day's "first proclamation," but a one-minute, 50-second dead space is on the audio until Fushek returns to speaking. Apparently her remarks were not recorded. CONTACT WRITER:(480) 898-6522or lgriffiths@evtrib.com
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