A retired Brooklyn monsignor was arrested yesterday and accused of attempting to molest two teenage boys this past Thursday. Msgr. Thomas Brady, 78, was charged with attempting a "criminal sex act" toward two teenage boys. “It’s devastating,” said Stefanie Gutierrez, a spokeswoman for the Diocese of Brooklyn, who placed Brady on administrative leave. “He was a well-regarded pastor. He’s loved in the parish.” more ›

An elderly Bronx priest was arrested yesterday and accused of sexually abusing a teenage girl who had just started working at his church rectory last week. Father Jaime Duenas, 87, was arraigned on charges of sexual abuse, forcible touching and endangering the welfare of the 16-year-old girl. And according to prosecutors, he gave this excuse in his cell before his arraignment last night: "She didn't protest to getting a massage...She was wearing short skirts." more ›

James McGreevey, NJ's infamous former governor who famously declared himself a "gay American" and resigned, embarked on an enlightened, post-political life by studying at the General Theological Seminary, where he got a Masters in Divinity. But his studies may have been for naught because his attempt to join the Episcopal Church priesthood had been denied, according to the NY Post. An Episcopal Diocese of Newark source says, "It was not being gay but for being a jackass -- [McGreevey] didn't come out of the whole divorce looking good." more ›

The high ranking New York-based priest who was found guilty of sexually abusing a teenager by a church tribunal last year and defrocked is suing his accuser for defamation. Monsignor Charles Kavanagh, who formerly led St. Raymond's parish in the Bronx, and was the chief fund-raiser for the Archdiocese of New York, says that former seminary student Daniel Donohue repeatedly lied to reporters and changed his story around to extract a "monetary settlement from the New York Archdiocese." more ›

A NJ Priest has been accused of extreme rudeness by two of his congregants who claim that he interrupted and rushed them through their grandmother's funeral service. Sisters Laurie Treene and Robyn Nini say that Reverend Bartley P. Baker, of St. Leo's Roman Catholic Church in Elmwood Park, ruined their 96-year-old grandmother's funeral, cuing the proverbial awards show music at points: "I got about halfway through [my eulogy] and he ran up to the podium and said, 'Wrap it up! Wrap it up!' I was just flabbergasted," said Treene. more ›

The highest ranking New York-based priest accused of molestation was found guilty of sexually abusing a teenager by a church tribunal last week. Monsignor Charles Kavanagh, who formerly led St. Raymond's parish in the Bronx, and was the chief fund-raiser for the Archdiocese of New York, was dismissed from the clergy following the guilty verdict on Friday. "I would like to take this occasion to renew our apologies to all those who have been harmed by the sin and crime of sexual abuse, and in particular to the gentleman who was the victim in this case," said Archbishop Timothy Dolan. more ›

Has God turned against Pedro Espada, Jr., too? While the embattled State Senator from Bronxchester spent Saturday trying to win constituents' hearts and minds by giving away free lunch outside a church in Norwood, the church's pastor, Father George Stewart, was warning his flock to be aware of the rascally Espada. Besides the civil and criminal probes into Espada's management of his taxpayer-funded health clinics, he also once said he "despised the Catholic Church." more ›

Roman Catholic Priest Rev. Kevin J. Gray was charged with first-degree larceny for stealing $1.3 million to pay for "hotels, restaurant meals, clothing and male escorts." Oh and also rent on a NYC apartment and the Harvard tuition for a man he met in Central Park. According to the Hartford Courant, the Waterbury priest told authorities he "'had grown to hate being a priest' because the Archdiocese had given him the 'worst church assignments' where he would 'have to fix problems made by the previous priests,' according to his arrest warrant." more ›

The priest and lawyer who advised Biurny Peguero Gonzalez both say she acted courageously by coming forward to clear the name of a jailed man she falsely accused of rape. "She's the hero, not me," said the priest who urged the 27-year old to find legal counsel after hearing her confession. Gonzalez told him the story of how she’d accused William McCaffrey—who’s now been released after four years behind bars—of sexually assaulting her in order to get sympathy from friends, reports the Post. But sources say that though she wanted the construction worker freed, she may not have been aware that coming forward would result in a prison term of her own. more ›

The woman whose false rape accusations put an innocent man in prison for four years wouldn't have admitted her story was a lie if she knew she was pregnant at the time, according to court documents. Biurny Peguero Gonzalez told investigators she wouldn't have come forward during confessional with her priest if she knew she was going to have a child. "She said that had she been aware of her pregnancy, she probably would not have confessed when she did," the papers state. more ›

The Archdiocese of New York is asking a priest at a Staten Island church to go back to his "native Philippines because he’s ill with kidney disease," the Staten Island Advance reports. Rev. Eusebio Pablito Maghari, who has been at the church for six years, says that that he was told he can't stay on because of his health issues (diet and lost sight in one eye) and required weekly dialysis—a letter told him "The rectory is not the appropriate place for you to live." more ›

Police say that a beloved NJ priest was stabbed 32 times by the church's janitor. Jose Feliciano, 64, who was among the group of people who initially found Rev. Ed Hinds' body in the rectory of St. Patricks in Chatham, NJ on Friday, allegedly confessed and was charged with murder. more ›

Yesterday, the beaten and bloodied body of a beloved church pastor was found in the rectory kitchen of St. Patrick's in Chatham, NJ. A friend said of Rev. Edward "Father Ed" Hinds, 61, "He was an exceptional, exceptional ma. He didn’t offend anybody. He didn’t take on issues, he didn’t use the pulpit to take on anything political. A lot of time he’d talk and he’d say, ‘Well where’s God in this?’" Morris County prosecutor Robert Bianchi said, "The fact is that this was a community leader whose arms were wide open to downtrodden. Maybe one of those individuals was involved. That kind of generosity is preyed upon." more ›

An Episcopal pastor on Staten Island is accused of turning the other cheek to a plastic surgeon and paying for the procedures with church money. According to SI Live, Rev. William Blasingame, 66, the now-resigned pastor of St. Paul's Memorial Episcopal Church in Stapleton, is accused of stealing over $80,000 during a three-year period starting in January 2005. Authorities say Blasingame used the money to pay for botox injections and face lifts (see his picture), as well as a club membership, car insurance, fancy clothes, and unspecified drugs. The larceny was discovered after church elders began double-checking church finances and noticed suspicious withdraws from two funds: one that was supposed to cover the maintenance and beautification of the church's grounds, and the other to provide small amounts of cash to parishioners in need. But don't parishioners also need a good-looking pastor? The D.A. doesn't think so; Blasingame's been charged with felonies punishable by up to 15 years in prison. more ›

As reported last week, a woman is suing the Diocese of Brooklyn for $25 million because a Roman Catholic priest at Our Lady of the Snows church allegedly seduced her from the confession booth. The accused priest, Reverend Elvis Elano, has yet to speak publicly, but yesterday parishioners at his former church in Astoria opened up to the Post. And one 80-year-old female churchgoer can probably count on being summoned to testify in Elano's defense: "I don't care whether he's a priest or not, when a woman opens her legs, a man is not going to say no. I don't believe it, but if he did it, more power to him." more ›

Reverend Elvis Elano, a priest formerly posted at Our Lady of the Snows in the Queens, is having a very trying day. After his secret seven-month affair with parishioner Judith Rodrigues-Lytwyn ended earlier this month, his ex has gone public with a lawsuit in Brooklyn Supreme Court, and The Smoking Gun has obtained a cachet of embarrassing photos, emails and documents, like the receipt for his online Viagra purchase. more ›

A chaplain at St. John's University was arraigned yesterday for sending homemade masturbation movies to someone he thought was a 13-year-old boy. It turned out that Father Charles Plock was actually e-mailing a Colorado sheriff the videos in which his face is clearly visible and which appear to have been shot on campus. Plock also serves on the board for Covenant House, the nonprofit organization that shelters runaway teens. One teenage freshman at St. John's called Plock "way too cool to be a priest" while another said to the Daily News, "Father Charlie? No way! He was a pretty all right guy." As he left the Queens courthouse where he appeared yesterday, a crowd heckled Plock shouting "Shame on you!" and "Pedophile!" The $15,000 needed for a bond to have Plock released to psychiatric facility was put up by fellow priests at St. John's. more ›

The Manhattan District Attorney's office announced that the Reverend David Ajemian was arrested on charges of stalking and threatening Conan O'Brien. The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston placed Ajemian, a 46-year-old priest in Stoneham, Massachusetts, on leave. The DA's office says that Ajemian had sent letters (some on parish letterhead!) to O'Brien's offices at 30 Rockefeller Plaza and home, contacted his parents, and tried to attend tapings of Late Night with Conan O'Brien. He was... more ›