The Record: Myers' Failure

The Record
May 1, 2013

http://www.northjersey.com/news/opinions/205513691_The_Record__Myers__failure.html

IT IS not complicated. Six years ago, the Rev. Michael Fugee entered into an agreement with the Bergen County Prosecutor's Office that he could not have unsupervised contact with children, minister to children or work in any position with children. In exchange, Fugee would not face a new trial for allegedly fondling a 13-year-old boy. That agreement has been breached.

Fugee had been found guilty by a jury, but that verdict was vacated after an appellate panel ruled that a part of Fugee's confession to police that dealt with his sexual orientation should have been withheld from jurors. The deal with the Prosecutor's Office eliminated the possibility of a new trial. It did not change the basic facts of the case or, more to the point, change Fugee. He should not have unsupervised contact with minors; he should not be ministering to children.

Yet that is exactly what has been happening for some time. And the Archdiocese of Newark, which is responsible for Fugee's ministerial placement, sees nothing wrong. It contends the agreement made with Bergen County prosecutors bans Fugee from unsupervised contact with youth, not contact with youth. This is a wrong legal interpretation and it is an offensive moral interpretation.

Who is Newark Archbishop John Myers protecting: the children of his archdiocese or one of his priests who has run afoul of the law? This type of hierarchical arrogance led to the massive sexual abuse scandals that have blemished the good works of the Catholic Church, and this is exactly why U.S. bishops created a document, the so-called Dallas Charter, pledging zero tolerance for any credible accusation of sexual abuse of a minor.

Myers' arrogance extends beyond the children and parents of his own archdiocese; it includes fellow bishops. Fugee has been attending weekend youth retreats in Monmouth and Morris counties. He has heard the one-on-one confessions of minors. Fugee traveled with a Colts Neck church youth group to Canada. All of this happened in the dioceses of Trenton and Paterson without the knowledge of the Trenton and Paterson bishops.

Clearly, Myers cares little about legal agreements and even less about the pain he is causing the victims of sexual abuse or the valid concerns raised by parents wanting to keep their children unscarred. The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops should issue a statement condemning Myers' actions; he has violated the Dallas Charter. The papal nuncio to the United States – the Vatican's ambassador – should report back to Rome on what has happened in Newark. Pope Francis wants to put a definitive end to the sexual abuse of minors by priests, to move the Church beyond the dark days of scandal. The pope should make an example of Myers, a bishop who has a reputation for being a doctrinal conservative, but apparently has less respect for U.S. law.

Fugee entered a Pretrial Intervention program. The inappropriateness of his contact with a minor has never been in dispute. That the Newark Archdiocese is trying to claim some type of legal high ground here is reprehensible. Myers is mocking civil law and, worse, dismissing a moral imperative that he, as a bishop, should defend with his last breath.

The Bergen County Prosecutor's Office has pledged to investigate. It should take whatever legal actions it can against Fugee and the Newark Archdiocese. But this offense goes higher. The Vatican must investigate Myers' lack of sensitivity for the people he is charged to protect. Nothing less is acceptable.