An Open Letter to His Holiness Pope John Paul II Regarding Orange Diocese Spokesperson Father Joseph Fenton
By Gustavo Arellano
Orange County Weekly
June 24, 2004
[See also other articles by Gustavo Arellano.]
Your Holiness,
As outlined by Pope Pius IX in his 1869 papal bull, Apostolic Sedis Moderationi, priests eligible for excommunication are those "who fight duels, those who challenge or accept challenge thereunto, all accomplices, all who help or countenance such combats, all who designedly assist thereat, finally all who permit dueling or who do not prevent it in so far as lies in their power, no matter what their rank or dignity, be it royal or imperial."
Diocese of Orange spokesperson Father Joseph Fenton deserves excommunication. He is dueling against the media and fellow Catholics here in Orange County like a gladiator in the Coliseum. Father Fenton takes this approach despite the promises of Most Reverend Bishop Tod D. Brown to make his see more open to inquiry.
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Father Fenton is what you would refer to in Latin as a podex maximus—a major asshole. And if that's not excommunicable per the Apostolic Sedis Moderationi, then it should be.
Since he became diocesan spokesperson a year ago, Father Fenton has managed to offend nearly all of Orange County's 1.1 million Catholics. He's combative, insulting, and as surly as Saul of Tarsus. His Irish brogue does little more than yell. Your Holiness, we devout Catholics of the Diocese of Orange want this podex maximus out.
Those who've suffered under Father Fenton include:
> Patrick Wall. The former Benedictine monk now helps lawyers investigate clerical sex-abuse cases. When Wall tried to enter a Jan. 15 press conference where Most Reverend Brown announced his plans to make sex-abuse victims feel more accepted by the diocese, Fenton confronted the gentle giant. "Out. Media only," Fenton snarled. Fenton moved on to scream at two other sex-abuse victims trying to attend the conference.
> Steven Greenhut. Fenton also barred The Orange County Register columnist and our brother in Christ—he's Greek Orthodox, but don't hold it against him—from attending the Jan. 15 press conference. Greenhut wants you, o Vicar of Christ, to know that he's "amazed by [Fenton's] in-your-face bluster. He is astoundingly ineffective. My best columns on the church topic are the result of his overreach—he angers victims and they call me with great stuff."
> The laity. According to various parishioners with whom I've spoken, Fenton is a modern-day Charles Coughlin. He mocks their questions, won't return calls and has described their concerns regarding the direction of the Orange diocese in the press as "full of innuendo and hearsay." On Jan. 22, a North County Catholic parishioner asked Father Fenton over the phone what the diocese was doing to remove pederast priests. According to the parishioner, Fenton laughed, responded, "Do you know any?" and then added, "If we did that, there would be so few priests left that we would have to turn [the Church] over to the lay people to run it."
> Myself. On June 14, I called Father Fenton and asked for a copy of a letter that Most Reverend Brown presented to all Catholics during the Feast of Corpus Christi on June 13 regarding the church's ongoing sex-abuse scandal. Father Fenton was not sympathetic to my request. "You must think I'm a complete and utter idiot!" he barked. He slammed down the phone. Hard.
> My editor. When I told my editor—a parishioner at St. Killian's in Mission Viejo—about Father Fenton's insolence, he immediately called the good reverend. A woman picked up the phone. She told Father Fenton, "Father, Will Swaim from OC Weekly is on the line." "Tell him I'm not here," Father Fenton audibly replied. "I'm sorry, but Father Fenton is down the hall," the receptionist told Will.
I could name others, but I trust this suffices. I understand that the excommunication process takes years, but I urge you to act as soon as possible—after all, God may call you to meet with John Paul I soon.
Contact: garellano@ocweekly.com.
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