Accused of adultery, Msgr. Eugene Clark resigns

[Fidei Defensor]

[url="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8915027/"]http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8915027/[/url]

NEW YORK - A Roman Catholic monsignor named in court papers as "the other man" in a divorce case resigned Thursday as rector of St. Patrick's Cathedral, the New York archdiocese said.

Cardinal Edward Egan accepted Msgr. Eugene Clark's resignation from the key church position despite the 79-year-old Clark's denials that he has been carrying on an affair with his 46-year-old private secretary, the church said.

"He offered his resignation for the good of Saint Patrick's and the archdiocese," the statement said. "He will not be celebrating Mass or the sacraments publicly until this matter has been resolved."

Clark had been rector of St. Patrick's in midtown Manhattan since 2001 and had often celebrated Mass there when the cardinal was away. He was named in divorce papers filed last week in Family Court in White Plains by Philip DeFilippo, 46, who said that a private investigator taped his wife, Laura, and the monsignor entering and leaving a Long Island hotel last month. The videotape was shown Monday to New York City newspapers.

Clark married the DeFilippos, who have two children, 20 years ago when he was rector of a church in Yonkers, according to published reports, and Laura DeFilippo has worked for Clark for at least 25 years.

Philip DeFilippo said his wife had told him she and Clark spent the day sifting through books at a storage facility in a town 30 miles from the hotel shown in the videotape, The New York Times reported.

The New York Daily News said the videotape captured Clark and DeFilippo dining on a veranda, returning to their hotel and emerging more than five hours later, wearing different clothing than before.

Secretary frequently traveled with monsignor
Philip DeFilippo also said that Laura DeFilippo frequently skipped family vacations to travel with Clark. In response to her husband's suspicions, DeFilippo would respond, "What are you worried about, Philip? He's a priest. He's an elderly priest," Philip DeFilippo told the Times.

Laura DeFilippo's lawyer, Michael Berger, told the Times the allegations are "totally false and outrageous and completely without merit," and that they were made in an effort to coerce Laura DeFilippo into accepting her husband's stipulations in the divorce. A call to Clark's lawyer, Laura Brevetti, was not immediately returned.

Beger and Brevetti previously denied that the monsignor and his secretary had a sexual relationship, accusing Philip DeFilippo of distorting an innocent event.

According to the White Plains Journal News, DeFilippo received a temporary order of protection barring his wife from their home after alleging in court papers she had threatened him after he approached her concerning the videotape. Local police confirmed they were investigating a domestic complaint filed Monday by Philip DeFilippo and his teenage daughter.

Controversial remarks during church sex-abuse scandal
A strong proponent of traditional morality, Clark blamed the church's sex-abuse scandal in 2002 on "the campaign of liberal America against celibacy." The staunch conservative suggested in a homily that homosexuality was a disorder caused by the sinful images that are pervasive in American culture.

He also scapegoated seminaries, claiming they deserve blame for allowing homosexuals to enter the ministry, the Times said.

His homily was greeted with outrage from numerous Catholics and gay organizations, prompting the archdiocese to say that Clark was speaking only for himself.

Joseph Zwilling, a spokesman for the archdiocese, said Wednesday that Clark was not asked to step down as rector because unlike priests who were accused of molesting boys, he was not accused of anything illegal and was denying the allegations.

Clark hosts a weekly program, "Relationships," on the Catholic television network, according to the White Plains Journal News. He established a committee to raise funds for Vatican museums and is on the board of advisers for a Catholic high school in New York State, where a scholarship is named after him, according to the Times.

[Theologian in Training]

...I heard....so sad

[EcceNovaFacioOmni]

His TV show is so awesome...

[zabbazooey]

Poor guy

[Laudate_Dominum]

aww man.. that's terrible.

[traditional]

Guilt by association prompted this high ranking prelate to resign. Oh, another rotting fruit of scandal of the New church Our Lady of Fatima warned solemnly 1918 which is the Third Secret that has been unjustly stifled by the previous 4 Popes, to all Catholics endagerment of the eternal Salvation. Ave Maria, Joseph

[Era Might]

There is no such thing as a "new Church".

There is only the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church, ever ancient and ever new, ever sinless and yet populated with corrupt men, of whom we are the chief.

Sinful clergy are not the fruit of some imagined "new Church" (as if the Lord's Church could ever defect). They are the fruit of the sin of Adam, which we have all inherited. Sinful clergy have been with us from time immemorial, and aren't going away any time soon.

I hope and pray that Monsignor Clark is innocent, and also for the family that has been torn apart nonetheless.

Edited August 13, 2005 by Era Might

[ReinnieR]

[quote name='Era Might' date='Aug 12 2005, 11:47 PM']There is no such thing as a "new Church".

There is only the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church, ever ancient and ever new, ever sinless and yet populated with corrupt men, of whom we are the chief.


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amen

[phatcatholic]

[quote name='traditional' date='Aug 12 2005, 11:46 PM']Guilt by association prompted this high ranking prelate to resign. Oh, another rotting fruit of scandal of the New church Our Lady of Fatima warned solemnly 1918 which is the Third Secret that has been unjustly stifled by the previous 4 Popes, to all Catholics endagerment of the eternal Salvation. Ave Maria, Joseph
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looks like "innocent until proven guilty" just got thrown out the window......

[phatcatholic]

the title of this thread is erroneous. you have to be married to be accused of adultery.

[traditional]

Hey, everybody check this website, [color=red] we don't link to these sites [/color] and get the whole scoop on the newest news on the Newchurch. Its great and informative! Joseph

Edited August 13, 2005 by cmotherofpirl

[CatholicCid]

Kinda wierd that this is getting press... There are thousands if not more adultery claims out there that should be equally printed... But, this takes a shot at the Church so hey...

Traditional, Whose is Pope? Pope Michael or Pope Puis XVIII

[dspen2005]

[quote name='traditional' date='Aug 13 2005, 12:46 AM']Guilt by association prompted this high ranking prelate to resign. Oh, another rotting fruit of scandal of the New church Our Lady of Fatima warned solemnly 1918 which is the Third Secret that has been unjustly stifled by the previous 4 Popes, to all Catholics endagerment of the eternal Salvation. Ave Maria, Joseph
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i thought disparaging remarks that question the soundness, validity, and rectitude of the Church were forbidden.... moderator?

[p-hawk]

[quote name='traditional' date='Aug 13 2005, 01:46 AM']Guilt by association prompted this high ranking prelate to resign. Oh, another rotting fruit of scandal of the New church Our Lady of Fatima warned solemnly 1918 which is the Third Secret that has been unjustly stifled by the previous 4 Popes, to all Catholics endagerment of the eternal Salvation. Ave Maria, Joseph
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[thessalonian]

[quote name='traditional' date='Aug 13 2005, 03:27 AM']Hey, everybody check this website, ---- and get the whole scoop on the newest news on the Newchurch. Its great and informative! Joseph
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Titus 1
10: For there are many insubordinate men, empty talkers and deceivers, especially the circumcision party;
11: they must be silenced, since they are upsetting whole families by teaching for base gain what they have no right to teach.

This can be applied to trads as well.

Edited August 13, 2005 by littleflower+JMJ

[homeschoolmom]

[quote name='traditional' date='Aug 12 2005, 11:46 PM']Guilt by association prompted this high ranking prelate to resign. Oh, another rotting fruit of scandal of the New church Our Lady of Fatima warned solemnly 1918 which is the Third Secret that has been unjustly stifled by the previous 4 Popes, to all Catholics endagerment of the eternal Salvation. Ave Maria, Joseph
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See? [i]This[/i] is why we have a phishy group...

... and why popestpiusx really doesn't belong in it...

[Ash Wednesday]

Traditional, I don't think someone else's misfortune is an appropriate time to push one's own agenda regarding the Church. At the very least, have the tact to start your own thread in the debate table rather than come across an opportunist.

[p-hawk]

[quote name='Ash Wednesday' date='Aug 13 2005, 10:13 AM']Traditional, I don't think someone else's misfortune is an appropriate time to push one's own agenda regarding the Church. At the very least, have the tact to start your own thread in the debate table rather than come across an opportunist. 
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At the very least, it's bad internettiquette to hijack the thread.

[Myles Domini]

Agreed Ash. [i]Traditional[/i] your grievances with the Church would be best raised on the debate table. This is a sad time, these allegations against Monsignor Clark are quite a blow to the Church Universal not just in America particularly since oppertunitists from the 'liberal' camp seem to be using them to make their case against celibacy and for homosexual activity.

Ignoring these as yet unsubstantiated charges let us all recall that a sick doctor can also cure sicker patients and that the personal failings of one man do not neccessarily mean the teachings he gave were wrong. We all sin and we're all failures, which is why we're lucky that the teaching with which we come is not our own and soiled by our nature but belongs to the spotless virgin bride of Christ.

Orthodoxy is of Christ, truth is of Christ, let nobody use this story regardless of its truth or untruth to try and shift our vision from that. I am not for Msgr. Clark, Fr Pacwa or Fr Groeschel. I am not for Paul or Apollos or Cephas. I am for Christ and whatever good has come from any of these men has come from Christ.

I dont believe these allegations but even if I did it would change nothing. Msgr Clark was right to identify the seminaries as the breeding grounds of dissent and debauchery. Msgr Clark was right to challenge people on his TV show and remind us of the key truths of faith that so many others seem so desperate to ignore.

St John Chrysostom taught that nobody blames a man if he goes out to battle and gets injured but rather that they despise the cowards who desert their lines before the battle is done. If, hypothetically, Msgr. Clark went to war and sustained wounds at the hands of the enemy then let us carry our injured comrade back to camp rather than jumping on him as some are. Lets remember that this brave warrior at least had the courage to answer the call to Crusade against the culture of death whilst so many of us were sitting comfortably in our homes allowing others to fight on our behalf.

Msgr Clark is a great warrior of Christendom. Regardless of what happens from now, nobody can change the fact that if he was injured it was fighting on the frontlines in the thick of the melee and more importantly nobody can change or take away his vital and spirited contributions to our campaigns in the face of [i]The Enemy[/i].

[Norseman82]

I am of the camp that anyone who is falsely accused should fight the accusations. After all, when Cardinal Bernardin was falsely accused, he didn't resign.