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	Priest Was Eyed for Ouster Prior to Audit Timing Enrages Cuenin's Backers By Matt Viser Boston Globe [Newton MA] October 20, 2005 The Rev. Christopher J. Coyne, the priest who replaced the Rev. Walter H. Cuenin at Our Lady Help of Christians parish in Newton, revealed at a meeting with parishioners last week that officials of the Catholic Archdiocese of Boston asked him in June if he would be interested in replacing the outspoken Cuenin. That was two months before the completion of the financial audit that archdiocesan officials said led them to ask for Cuenin's resignation. The news outraged parishioners, who say it shows that the audit was never the real reason Cuenin was ousted. "It just feels like once again we have a diocese that absolutely refuses to be transparent," said Larry Kessler, a member of the parish council. "People are feeling really hurt, angry, enraged, and some of them are leaving." According to the minutes of the Oct. 11 parish council meeting, Coyne was asked by a parishioner when he knew that Cuenin would be removed. Coyne responded "that he was told in June of the possibility of a leadership change at Our Lady's and asked if he would be interested in the pastorate," according to the minutes. "He said he would think about it, but it was not finalized until shortly before the appointment was made." The minutes of the meeting were posted on the parish's website. Two members of the parish council, who were present at the meeting and spoke to the Globe yesterday, confirmed Coyne's remarks. Cuenin's supporters had long feared that archdiocesan officials would find a way to remove him from the prominent Newton parish for his outspokenness on a variety of issues, including his inclusive policy toward divorced Catholics, gays, and lesbians; his emphasis on prominent roles for women; and his activism in calling for the resignation of Cardinal Bernard F. Law, former head of the Boston Archdiocese. Terrence C. Donilon, spokesman for the archdiocese, said yesterday that it was only the financial audit of the parish that led church officials to ask Cuenin to resign. He said that although the financial audit showing Cuenin was receiving an excessive stipend was not completed until August, a preliminary audit of Our Lady's finances was done by early March, and that prompted the more in-depth examination of the parish's payroll. Donilon rejected the idea that anything other than the financial audit led the archdiocese to ask Cuenin to resign. The preliminary audit, as well as the fact that Cuenin's second six-year term at the parish was to expire at the end of June, prompted Archbishop Sean P. O'Malley to speak to Coyne about replacing the popular priest, Donilon said. "I reject the premise that there was some grand scheme in June to put Father Coyne in there," Donilon said. "It was a wide-ranging discussion about possible assignments. I can't spell it out more than that because these are very complex, comprehensive discussions that an archbishop has with his priests." Donilon declined yesterday to comment on whether Cuenin knew about the discussions with Coyne about Our Lady's, saying it was "an internal personnel matter." Donilon also declined to say precisely when the archdiocese decided that Coyne would replace Cuenin. The archdiocese has not made public when O'Malley asked for Cuenin's resignation. Cuenin announced his resignation to his parishioners Sept. 24, and Coyne's appointment was announced three days later. The audit completed in August led the archdiocese to conclude that Cuenin had violated archdiocesan policy by accepting from his parish a leased Honda Accord and the $500 monthly stipend. Those expenditures had been approved by parish leaders. But the archdiocese said priests are allowed to receive only a $5 stipend per Mass. Cuenin has agreed to pay between $75,000 and $80,000 back to the archdiocese. Cuenin had hoped to remain at Our Lady Help of Christians Parish. He told parishioners that in February, aware that his second term at the parish was expiring in June, he had asked for a third term. He told parishioners throughout the summer that he was hopeful he would be reinstated. Cuenin, who now lives at Saint Julia Parish in Weston and fills temporary vacancies for the archdiocese, has been traveling and could not be reached yesterday for comment. Coyne did not return phone messages seeking comment. Some parishioners at Our Lady have questioned whether Cuenin's removal was punishment for his suggestion that his parishioners march in Boston's annual gay pride parade in June. That suggestion drew criticism from other Catholics, who complained to the archdiocese. In response to one of those complaints, Bishop Richard G. Lennon, the vicar general of the archdiocese, wrote in a letter dated July 8, 2005, that O'Malley was "very disturbed by the information that you, along with others, have sent to him regarding this event and the involvement of Father Cuenin." "He wishes to assure you that he is in the process of addressing this whole matter," the letter said. Donilon said that the gay pride march and the archdiocesan inquiry to Coyne about taking over at the parish were unrelated. Coyne is the former spokesman for Law and for O'Malley and had been the voice of the church administration during the clergy sexual abuse crisis and at the start of the process of parish closings. Prior to being appointed at Our Lady Help of Christians, Coyne taught liturgical theology at St. John's Seminary in Brighton and assisted at parishes in Medfield and Holliston. He spent time at Our Lady's over the course of three years in seminary, and the parish's choir sang at his first Mass, in his hometown of Woburn, in 1986. "He understood the task was large, coming in after a popular pastor, but he's doing his best to come in and serve the Catholic community here," Donilon said. "There's not some great conspiracy going on here that is being portrayed in the public. It is merely that the archbishop has great confidence in Father Coyne, and it was simply time for him to take on a parish." Parishioners at Our Lady say they realize Coyne is in a difficult position. There have been several tense moments. Mel Hannigan, who is leading a petition campaign to reinstate Cuenin, said she approached Coyne as he greeted parishioners outside the church before Mass on Sunday and asked him whether he was asked in June to be assigned to Our Lady. The encounter got confrontational, she said, when she asked why he didn't let Cuenin know he might lose his position. "Just as a friend, as a priest, why not tell Walter?" she said. "Walter doesn't get the courtesy of an update, but Coyne gets to know that he's coming to our parish?"
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