Coming Memorial Day Weekend … This week the Boy Scouts of America home office voted to open its ranks Thursday to gay Scouts but not gay Scout leaders — a fiercely contested compromise that some warned could fracture the organization and lead to mass defections of members and donors. What’s the impact … I laughed when upon the killing of Osama Bin Ladan POTUS bHo was all “us, we, us, we”  and if he could have photo-shopped himself into the compound, he would have and Jay Carney would have sworn to it. Then what made him go all Sargent Schultz on us … it’s funny stuff if it was not a national disgrace … Finally, I’ll be Setting the Table for the Michael Fugee, Frank Bruno and Thomas Triggs connection that we are prepping for and  this is THE post that when it comes out, the Newark Archdiocese DOES NOT want Posted (too bad) – they don’t like my Tweets and posts and I don’t like pedophiles – come get me.  

I commend CNN for being diligent and clear on their continued coverage of the person of the decade, Malala Yousafzai and her battle with the dog-rat Taliban. Here is her most recent update.

(CNN) – Six months ago, Malala Yousafzai was lying in a hospital bed, recovering from a Taliban attack in which she was shot point-blank in the head and neck.

The shooting was meant to silence, once and for all, the outspoken Pakistani teenager who had dared to defy the Taliban’s ban against girls in school.

But it backfired: Instead of silencing the 15-year-old, the attack only made her voice more powerful.

Malala’s story has raised global awareness of girls’ education, a cause she has championed for years. And now that she’s out of the hospital and back in school, she is determined to keep fighting for equality. She will be speaking at the United Nations this summer, and her memoir is set to be published later this year.

“God has given me this new life,” she said in February, her first public statement since the shooting. “I want to serve the people. I want every girl, every child, to be educated.” Worldwide, there are 66 million girls out of school, according to UNESCO — many more than boys, who don’t have to face the same discrimination and obstacles that girls do in some countries.

After hearing of Malala’s shooting, however, more people have become aware of the disparity and joined her fight. Three million people across the world signed the “I am Malala” petition to demand universal girls’ education. World leaders and celebrities such as Madonna and Angelina Jolie have voiced their support and helped raise money for the cause. And in Pakistan, there have been rallies and calls for change.
“It seems that Malala’s courage has awoken Pakistan’s silent majority who are no longer prepared to tolerate the threats and intimidations of the Pakistan Taliban,” said former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, a U.N. special envoy for global education.

Malala’s crusade started years before the shooting, when she started writing a blog for the BBC about life in Pakistan’s conservative Swat Valley. Her father, Ziauddin, continued to operated a school there despite a Taliban edict that girls in the region are banned from getting an education.

In her blog, Malala talked openly about the challenges and fears and threats her family faced. At first, she wrote anonymously, but she eventually became a public figure, giving on-camera interviews with CNN and other news outlets.
“I have the right of education,” she said in a 2011 interview with CNN. “I have the right to play. I have the right to sing. I have the right to talk. I have the right to go to market. I have the right to speak up.”
The media attention drew the ire of the Taliban, which says it was behind Malala’s shooting in October. She was riding home in a van with some of her schoolmates when masked men stopped the vehicle and demanded to know which one of them was Malala. When Malala was identified, the men opened fire on her and two other girls, both of whom also survived their injuries.

“We do not tolerate people like Malala speaking against us,” a Taliban spokesman said after the shooting.

Malala was critically injured in the attack, but she suffered no permanent brain injuries. She underwent several successful surgeries in Pakistan and the United Kingdom, where she now lives after her father was given a job with the Pakistani Consulate.
In March, she went back to school for the first time since the attack, attending an all-girls high school in Birmingham, England. And while she recovers from her injuries, she is continuing to raise awareness and money for education. Last month, she announced a $45,000 grant to a fund that was set up in her name — and the first to benefit will be girls from the Swat Valley.

“We are going to educate 40 girls, and I invite all of you to support the Malala Fund,” Malala said in a video that was played at the Women in the World summit in New York. “Let us turn the education of 40 girls into 40 million girls.”
Jolie, a U.N. special envoy, will be donating $200,000 to the Malala Fund, according to Women in the World. The fund was set up by the Vital Voices Global Partnership, a nongovernmental organization founded in 1997 by Hillary Clinton.
“In parts of the Indian subcontinent, Afghanistan and Africa, intimidation and violence are the daily reality of life for many girls who want to go to school and the many educators who want to teach them,” Brown wrote in a recent op-ed for CNN.com. “Even today, five months after Malala’s shooting in the Swat Valley, her school friends remain in fear of violence simply for attempting to return to school.”
On July 12, her 16th birthday, Malala will speak to the United Nations about the issue.

Since her shooting, she has become the face of girls’ education, a global symbol. She has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize, and last year she was selected as a runner-up for Time magazine’s Person of the Year.
“She is the daughter of the whole world,” her father told CNN. “The world owns her.”

My jaw dropped. I read the entire “all-inclusive, because we don’t want to leave anyone else out”, press release and I came up with one conclusion: these people are just askin’ for it – just really askin’ for it.

A student group at San Diego State University for its lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community is reportedly changing its name — but the motives and the not-so-far-sighted vision of the rebranding needs to be called into question. The university’s Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Student Union (LGBTSU) will become the Queer Student Union beginning in the 2013-14 school year.

IF a straight child in a high school went up to a gay child and called him or her “queer” and it was witnessed and/ or reported, there would be trouble and rightfully so. This should carry the same consequences if a non-black child in a high school went up to a black student and called him or her a “nigger”. But it seems that the San Diego State University student government wants to cloud the issue and make it appear as though the term “queer” is acceptable – “oh, but don’t you dare call us that.”

I’ve been yacking about this for years. Spike Lee, Russell Simmons and every rapper that encourages, endorses and hypes the word “nigger” in lyrics needs to be called to task. They are looking for the profit and promotion that comes with the lyrics and get a lot of money from non-black consumers, but God forbid these same non-black consumers actually sing the lyrics. It’s a double-edge blade and it now is spilling into he gay community and they don’t care.

Transition that may Not be So Smooth

“We’re here and next year, we’re queer,” junior and president-elect Thomas Negron said. Negron and the group’s president, Michael Manacop, said “queer” is the easiest way to encompass all of the gender and sexual identities on campus without getting too wordy. There’s a similar group at University of California, San Diego called the Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Queer/Questioning Intersex Association (LGBTQIA). “We decided instead of just adding letters, however many letters there are, we should just have an umbrella term,” Manacob said. Some student has been vocal in its displeasure about the seemingly offensive rebranding. “It doesn’t seem like something you’d want to be called,” sophomore Jake Neely said. “I was always taught not to use (certain) words and … that was definitely one of them that shouldn’t really be said in my house.”

Well Jake, you intolerant twit, OF COURSE your parents are correct, you NEVER, ever should call anyone  that is gay “queer” ,well, unless you are gay; then it’s okay because that (according to Mr. Negron) is the way dialog is open. You know, the dialog that will come when a tanked-up kid on campus pulls down a flag or poster that has that word on it and is expelled because even though it offends him (as it should the gay students and community) he showed ignorance and Mr. Negron gets his name back in the paper.

This has got to stop. Nigger, Dot-head, Spic, Chick, Faggot, Queer, etc… etc are offensive and WRONG and the groups that feign outrage that others outside their ethnic, religions or sexual preference sphere need to take a hard look at the commotion they are causing by not doing everything they can do to influence the immediate cease and desist the profiting and agenda promotion off of there vile terms.

(from CNN) — Last month, thousands of people in Saudi Arabia opened up their newspapers to find a full-page picture of a woman with a black eye clearly visible underneath her burqa.

Below the image ran the slogan in Arabic, “Some things can’t be covered”, and a list of phone numbers for local domestic abuse shelters. In a culture that tends to turn a blind eye to the issue of violence towards women, it was a shocking and powerful image.

“It’s a problem that’s been swept under the carpet for years,” says Scott Abbott, the creative director for Memac Ogilvy, the Riyadh-based agency responsible for the advert.

When Ogilvy approached the King Khalid Foundation, a charity that focuses on issues of advocacy and developing the country’s non-profit sector, they weren’t sure what type of reaction to expect.

“I think that there was always a real concern that, given the subject matter, it would never get through,” says Abbott.

A major push came from Saudi princess HRH Banderi A.R. Al Faisal, the foundation’s director. Though the campaign has captured the public’s attention, both within Saudi and abroad, where an English version has made the rounds online, Al Faisal says she doesn’t see the ad as shocking.

“My media and PR team were a bit nervous going into this, saying, ‘Are you sure you want to do this?’” she admits. “I didn’t understand why. I don’t understand what is so controversial. Who will say, ‘Yes, it’s ok for women to be beaten up’?”

Saudi women are legally reliant on the permission of their male guardians to travel freely, driving is still a socially contentious issue and there are no laws that protect victims of domestic abuse. According to Al Faisal, however, change is in the air.

“For several years, domestic abuse was sort of the elephant in the room. There was nowhere for a woman to go if she was abused because a system wasn’t set up to handle that,” she admits. Though the issue is still not completely out in the open, she notes the last few years has seen a rise in shelters that cater to female victims of violence.

It has been a watershed year for women’s rights in the conservative country. So far, women have been accepted into the government’s advisory Shura Council, given the right to vote, gained entry into a range of new professions (including engineering and law) and granted permission to have their own IDs without guardian permission.

Adam Coogle, a Middle East researcher at Human Rights Watch, admits that though these measures are impressive, more needs to be done to protect women inside the country.

“There are no laws that protect women specifically. If, for example, a woman claims rape, and a man says it was consensual, she can face a counter charge of adultery,” he says.

Though there is currently no law that punishes a man for beating his wife, the King Khalid Foundation has prepared legislation that would do just that. In fact, it is the pending bill, which would decide the punitive measures abusers could face (a mix of imprisonment, financial restitution and loss of custody), that spurred the campaign to begin with.

Last year, the Shura Council pushed through similar legislation the foundation helped pen protecting the rights of children in abusive situations. Al Faisal is confident that the drafted legislation will meet with the same level of success.
Coogle, however, says that Saudi still needs to overcome considerable social hurdles before the situation improves.

“Women who speak out about emotional abuse or neglect often face societal judgments. There is a prevalent attitude that if a man hits his wife, it’s acceptable, because she’s not being a good wife.”

Coogle points to a ten year old study in the Journal of Muslim Affairs where Saudi men were polled on whether they ever hit their wives — 53% answered yes.

Al Faisal agrees that the Saudi mindset has to change and notes that a major obstacle is the naturally guarded nature of the culture.

“This is a very private society, and we tend to try to deal with things discreetly. We do not air our dirty laundry in public, as families or as communities,” she says. “The negative side of that discretion is that it allows abusive behavior to thrive, because it is not stopped.”

A main goal of the campaign is to create a countrywide social dialogue. In that regard, says Abbott, the campaign has been successful.

“Outside of the two days of ads we ran, it’s been printed on the front page of national newspapers,” he says. “People are talking about it, and it’s been largely well-received.”

It seems Boston Bruins fans don’t have the market cornered on stupidity and YES I have been a Bruins fan since about 1980.

Just a couple of days after a Leafs backer was knocked unconscious while supporting his team in Boston, resulting in a concussion and broken jaw, a sign held by a Maple Leafs fan outside the Air Canada Centre on Monday has triggered an avalanche of online outrage. Before Monday night’s Game 3 between the Maple Leafs and Boston Bruins, photos surfaced online of a Leafs fan holding a sign that read “Toronto Stronger.” The message is a direct reference to “Boston Strong,” a campaign that became a mantra in that city after the Boston Marathon bombings. The April 15 explosions killed three people and injured more than 260. Shortly after the sign appeared, it triggered an angry response on Twitter, with many saying the sign was in bad taste in light of the Boston attacks. I get how some sports fans take their love for their team to extremes, I really do. But there comes a point when you cross the line from loyalty and devotion to being a classless idiot.
I’ll take it a step further; Immature? Insensitive? In poor taste? Bad judgment? Dickhead? All of the above.

But let’s not get sucked in and blow it all out of proportion because if we do, the bad guys win again – we bring attention to the bad, the loss the sorrow and violence and that draws attention away from the heroics, the healing and the resolve.

I truly believe that this was a kid with a sign that meant absolutely zero dis-respect to dead people put there by radical Islamic sandrats but rather used this sign to get into the heads of the Bruins playing on the ice. It’s sports – it’s a misguided and sophomoric way of viewing the world but it is the way it is. “ The Sign” (as it’s now characterized in the media) had nothing to do with the blood on Boylston Street and everything to do with a culture that placed Sport above all else.

The case in point is 2001. I didn’t root for the Yankees in the World Series when others softened “because it’s for New York.” Sorry, It was Pennsylvania and Virginia too and the nation as a whole. Root for the Yankees in the World Series? You could not get me to root for them in a spring training game versus Godzilla and Kong. I don’t use sports as a metaphor to cheer a team onto victory – they get paid too much money to be motivated by faux-patriotism; win because you are paid to win.

I enjoy sports to get away from real life – there is no life and death involved. None. Zero. Zilch. The kid is an idiot and worse but I can’t get worked up over a sign that has tried to detract from the swell of Resolve in Beantown – I refuse to waste the energy on a kid I don’t know and for a mistake he made that HE embarrassed himself, his city  and his family over.

He’s a nothing and nothings don’t bother me.

I have no beef with Jason Collins be gay or outing himself or what he does in his bedroom. Is it for me? No. Does it work for him? Apparently.

This past week I got into a social media bru-ha-ha with a good/ great friend and my daughter and another person that is one of the most caring and sincere people I know and love. I wrote the following and found myself defending myself as an intolerant, gay-basher:

“NBA journeyman Jason Collins is gay. He averaged 3.9 RPG and 3.6 PPG for 6 teams in 12 seasons. He was released by the Washington Wizards and then took the perceived noble and brave stance of declaring his gayness. NOT IMPRESSED. Mr. Collins was drafted in round 1 of the 2001 NBA draft; noble and brave would have been to stand in front of the Commissioner and press in 2001 and declare “I’m a number 1 pick and I’m gay.” No one is beating down Collins door and the NBA career is over,THIS IS WHY JASON COLLINS CAME OUT. See you on the book tour Jason; won’t be watching your reality show.”

It escalated …

• 

  Elizabeth Howell Brown I don’t think you can condemn anyone for coming out and their choice of how it’s done. For all we know, someone was about to out him.

  April 29 at 9:12pm via mobile · Unlike · 4
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  Bruce Novozinsky $100 charity-to-charity he’s plugging it on Ellen by Christmas. As far as the Reality show goes,see the offer in SI from 4 weeks ago. Who did he come out to..? Oh, Sports Illustrated. I stand by my “career over, opportunity knocking .”Part of Brave and noble is not allowing yourself to be handled. He was A number one pick (round) not THE number one pick.

  April 29 at 9:13pm via mobile · Like
• 
• Elizabeth Howell Brown Forget about Jason. Think of the next person who wants to come out, the first round draft pick. After reading nasty tweets and news articles, views similar to yours– don’t you think they would second guess coming out after seeing the reaction? We need less judging, more supporting.

  April 29 at 9:32pm via mobile · Like · 2

• 
• Emily Novozinsky I bet by outing himself, he helped a ton of others realize that it doesn’t matter how high or low of a social circle you’re in: if you love something or someone, you’re allowed to. And I strongly believe that a few bad judgments will definitely not outweigh the support he has.

  April 30 at 9:11am via mobile · Unlike · 4
• 

  Elizabeth Howell Brown Absolutely, EnEn

  April 30 at 9:26am via mobile · Like
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  Bruce Novozinsky I love this debate. Respectful and thought provoking.

  April 30 at 9:43am via mobile · Like
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  Adele Berardi Bruce, really???? It would be a lot easier for him had he stayed in the closet. be REAL and be thankful you do not know what it is like to worry about something like this in your own little corner of your sky.

  April 30 at 2:04pm · Like · 1
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  Bruce Novozinsky Unfair to make that assumption Adele. There are varying degrees of what one considers painful to keep inside. The gay community does not hold the marketplace on internal conflict.

  April 30 at 2:12pm via mobile · Like · 1
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  Emily Novozinsky If he came out while in his prime, with the amount of physical contact in basketball he would have been ripped apart. Now that he isn’t in the main spotlight, he realized he finally had the chance to express himself. 12 YEARS later.

  April 30 at 2:14pm via mobile · Unlike · 2
• 

  Bruce Novozinsky On the subject of NBA Baller Jason Collins, Kobe Bryant tweeted: “Proud of @jasoncollins34. Don’t suffocate who u r because of the ignorance of others” … Is this the same Kobe Bryant that called NBA referee Bennie Adams a “fucking faggott?” Yup, just Googled it.

  April 30 at 2:26pm via mobile · Like · 1
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  Elizabeth Howell Brown I thought your argument was the timing, not the gay factor.

  April 30 at 2:28pm via mobile · Like · 2
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  Bruce Novozinsky Adele, once again, I’m only questioning the motives of the timing. First comes the book. Then the GLAAD awards and then the Director of Diversity for the NBA.

  April 30 at 2:29pm via mobile · Like
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  Emily Novozinsky And people become more open minded and accepting all the time. You should try it!

  April 30 at 2:30pm via mobile · Like · 3
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  Bruce Novozinsky Pointing out the Left hypocrisy.

  April 30 at 2:30pm via mobile · Like
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  Elizabeth Howell Brown If you support the LGBT community, you should be cheering Ellen for having him on, and supporting all of his accomplishments. Ever think he did the nba and its players a favor? Now they can hide behind his poor stats, instead of coming off as intolerant and ignorant.

  April 30 at 2:35pm via mobile · Like · 2
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  Bruce Novozinsky I don’t support the LGBT community. I applaud and decry some of their actions and causes as much as I condemn and support actions of the Catholic Church. I admire Ellen and respect Anderson Cooper. I would have personally shot the scum that killed Matthew Sheppard and of the 6 men I admire most, Father M. Judge is number 5 and I recite his prayer each morning. Anyone else want to thinly jab me as a homophobe?

  April 30 at 2:44pm via mobile · Like
• 

  Elizabeth Howell Brown Think you just outed yourself.

  April 30 at 2:45pm via mobile · Unlike · 2
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  Adele Berardi Bruce did you read the SI article? Why must you often(not always) assume the worst? maybe he didn’t come out in his prime because he thought it would ruin his chance of participation? maybe he doesn’t have as much to lose at this point of his life? Y…See More

  May 1 at 8:39am · Like · 3
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  Adele Berardi I do not say you are a homophobe. I believe maybe you stir a pot which doesn’t need even more stirring.

  May 1 at 8:40am · Like · 1
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  Emily Novozinsky Exactly, no one is saying you’re a homophobe. But everyone needs time to figure out who they really are, and it’s no one else’s business but their own when that time is. Famous or homeless, the pot doesn’t need stirring, just live and let live.

  May 1 at 8:56am via mobile · Like · 2
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  Adele Berardi Emily, you know I love you so much, but you have moved up 22 notches in my book. You are beautiful inside and out….not always easy for a pretty teenager!!!

  May 1 at 10:14am · Like · 1
• 

  Adele Berardi And I do love your dad too, for who he is.

  May 1 at 10:16am · Edited · Like · 1

I believe that as Americans we are all entitled to the same and unalienable rights as every man, woman and child on the face of this earth that God was good enough to loan to us. Do I think/ believe that there would be same sex marriage? No. Marriage is the sacrament; civil union is the light at the end of the tunnel that does not have a train attached to it. “Marriage equality” is the new rally call that is taking the place of “same-sex marriage.” Don’t be fooled. The connotation that SSM is associated with ‘sex’ and the losing efforts of Prop-8 left activists to react and place a more positive marketing tag to the agenda, and this is the advent of the term.

My issue with Mr. Collins is not where he decides to slam-dunk and with whom, it’s with his timing. Twelve years ago he was the 18th overall pick of the NBA draft. He was not brave or a hero or even a pioneer – he was a closeted gay man with a secret that he went to great lengths to mask – period. He hid. At the same time he did come out and while I’m not applauding him and his lack of hall of fame career, I support my daughters (and her good friends) admiration of Collins by purchasing a Washington Wizards custom 98 shirt for them (and me). I’ve had a week of bruce-bashing to think over the criticism I took and can honestly say, I stand by my thoughts and objective opinions of Mr. Collins. He’s at the end of his career and is going to now parlay his below average basketball career into a league front office job, write the book and be on Ellen. Good for him; just come out and say it.

I’ve also had the time to consider this as well.

We are asked to acknowledge the Rights of an isolated, albeit powerful group with Same-sex Marriage at the same time and under the same administration that we are being told to give up guns (which I am a moderate on) and religious liberties and freedoms. The Left and gay activist groups want to be heard but they want suppress the opinions of the opposition at the same time – last I read, in 1776 in Philadelphia there was quite an argument that based this country’s founding and existence on. Why is it that my opinion on the sincerity of Mr. Collins is called insensitive and homophobic? Have I given any reason for anyone to believe that I’m a gay-basher? I’m simply voicing my opinions of a public figure that decided to make himself more public.

I’m not alone.

We say we want athletes, public figures, role models, kids to take stands and have opinions, but this is a big fat lie. What we mean is that we want these people to be of our own ilk. To like what we like, to support what we support. Hero’s? please. Jackie Robinson was not a “hero” for his skin color – he was a hero because his head was tossed at (sans a batting helmet); he was shut out of hotel rooms, he was called ni by 9 year old boys and came back the next day to the same ignorance, racism and violence. You see, you can hide gay, you can’t hide skin.

We have screwed ourselves out of heroes. And we have nobody to blame for this but ourselves. Jason and Jackie share three things in common, skin color, a number on their jersey and athletic ability. Ninety-eight is a man to be respected and admired but what he could have faced on Draft Day 2001 if he said, “I’m Jason and I’m gay” would still be a fraction of a fraction of what 42 faced on his best day in 1947. This is the widest river that separates Jackie from Jason.

Oh what the hell …. After reading the posting below, feel free (like I did) to give Jimmy a call on his personal cell phone; I’m posting it here with his email to boot:  Jim Goodness(973) 497-4186 (office); (973) 202-2317 (Cell) … goodneja@rcan.org 

First off, the reporting of Michael Fugee (I can’t bring myself to call him “Father”) done by Newark Star Ledger reporter Mark Mueller was nothing sort of stellar.  Objective, factual and hardline. A tremendous job.

Youth Ministers, Michael and Amy Lenehan willfully and knowingly put children of the Diocese of Trenton in direct contact with a man (Michael Fugee) who  was charged with criminal sexual contact in 2001 after he was accused of fondling the genitals of a 14-year-old boy. This man, is an admitted homosexual/ bisexual and child molester (and I am NOT saying that being gay means that you are a pedophile) who confessed to touching the boy, acknowledging to police that it sexually excited him. Archbishop John Meyers had full knowledge of him being in the Diocese of Trenton, lied and Goodness swears to the lie.

The easy thing for me to have done would have been to step in and take a sledge hammer to the situation surrounding Fugee, his boss, Archbishop John J. Meyers,  Rev. Thomas Triggs, pastor of St. Mary’s Parish in Colts Neck and his two lap-sap, youth ministers — Michael and Amy Lenehan — who had invited the Fugee to take part in youth retreats and other activities with teens knowing full well his legal and USCCB restrictions stemming from his assault on teen boys.

My more immediate concern was of course for the kids, but it also reached to my Diocese as well. Hold a gun to my head on day-one of this horror story and tell me that unless I concede that Bishop David M. O’Connell knew that Fugee was 1) AT St. Mary and/ or 2) knew that he went on retreat with his kids of his diocese, what’s left of my brains would be splatted, I’d say, “pull the trigger.” I am not an apologist for any member of any clergy member but I can say and did say to the Bishop that I, without reservation truly believe that he was not a party to any of this. I agree with Bishop O’Connell when he said In the past, that the Diocese handled the abuse crisis in a poor way and he needs to concentrate on the future and present to ensure of the safety of his children. I disagree that he has done everything possible to protect the kids  because there are sealed names of former priests that are in our neighborhoods and near to kids. I have encouraged the Bishop to release those names and the names of all credibly named religious in his Diocese that have been accused of sexual crimes as 22 other United States Dioceses have. However there is absolutely no way David M. O’Connell had any inkling as to the law breaking, agreement violations that was unfolding in Colts Neck – none

So yes, I will defend O’Connell on this instance and layout what I know to be true.

• If one thinks for a moment that Bishop O’Connell met with Father Triggs  for the first time on Saturday, May 4, is mistaken. Triggs has said to a mutual acquaintance that he was “dressed down and knew it was coming” in reference to his own resignation – he was fired

• By most accounts, Triggs is a good priest that got caught up in a very, very bad mess. He’s an opportunist and career climber. I’m convinced that he was taken in by Fugee, Meyers and the February 7, 2013 letter addressed to all priest in his Archdiocese that was used as support for Fugee. Now he’ll pay the price and be reassigned or re-directed to a desk job, hospital chapel or another diocese – he brought this on himself; he needed to be diligent and failed in that capacity. He also failed to protect his children of his parish. St Mary is a plum assignment at an affluent parish, to think for one moment that a homosexual child predator is ministering to children of a parish of this nature without the consent of the pastor knowing that his youth minister (Mrs. Amy Lenehan) was a prior spokesperson for the Archdiocese of Newark is absolutely unheard of, irresponsible and a bol-faced lie on the part of Triggs

• As far as personal friends for decades to Fugee,  Michael and Amy Lenehan are concerned – “stepped down?” yeah… hmm,  no. they were booted – bye-bye. You can call it a Triggs move if you want; I can tell you that it came from higher than the pastor and certainly prior to May 4

• Archbishop John J Meyers is a liar and harbors known sexual offenders

• The Archdiocese of Newark spokesperson,  Jim Goodness is a disingenuous, arrogant person – he is incapable of being smart enough to lie so he just puts his foot further and further into his mouth and then insults those around him by being nothing short of a flak for Meyers

The last two bullets are strong statement so let me clarify and explain.

Bullet four – Archbishop John J Meyers is a liar and harbors known sexual offenders. Meyers is an embarrassment to the Church. To compound the arrogance and unbelievable nature of the Fugee punishment it was Meyers that assisted in composing the USCCB’s Dallas Charter that is the written word to the mandatory sentencing of Fugee of ever serving in any ministry to kids after his crotch-groping of teen boys. Additionally, this is not Meyers’ first step to the plate of harboring and protecting known sex offenders and it needs to be noted that in each case listed below, Meyers hand signature is on released documents supporting each claim of complaisantly and approval of each of the listed moves:

• In 2010 the Star-Ledger review of the archbishop’s record since 2002 shows Myers on at least four occasions has shielded priests accused of sexual abuse against minors and one adult. In the four instances, the priests have either admitted improper sexual contact, pleaded guilty to crimes stemming from accusations of sexual misconduct or been permanently barred from ministry by the archdiocese after allegations of sexual misconduct. The archdiocese also wrote a letter of recommendation for one of the priests, a week after it learned he was accused of breaking into a woman’s home in Florida and possibly assaulting her
• In 2004, the Newark Archdiocese wrote letters to six dioceses in Florida on behalf of the Rev. Wladyslaw Gorak, one week after learning Gorak’s ministry had been terminated in the Orlando Diocese — after he was accused of breaking into a woman’s home
• Also in 2004, the archdiocese banned the Rev. Gerald Ruane from public ministry after investigating an allegation he molested a boy, but did not publicly notify lay people or other priests. Ruane continued to say Mass and wear his collar in public
• In 2007, the archdiocese failed to inform lay people that it found a molestation claim credible against the Rev. Daniel Medina, who had worked in parishes in Elizabeth and Jersey City. The case wasn’t made public until a victims group uncovered an alert sent by the archdiocese in September 2008 to other bishops saying Medina was on administrative leave and could not be located

Bullet 5- The Archdiocese of Newark spokesperson,  Jim Goodness is a disingenuous, arrogant person – he is incapable of being smart enough to lie so he just puts his foot further and further into his mouth and then insults those around him by being nothing short of a flak for Meyers.

I’m going back only two weeks ago. I will line up the statements of the Newark Archdiocese, the Newark Archbishop and the statements of the Spokesperson Jim Goodness to the “letter of resignation” of Michael Fugee. You decide:

Goodness says: On April 28, Goodness denied any legal or Dallas Charter agreement had been breached, saying the archdiocese has interpreted the document to mean Fugee could work with minors as long as he is under the supervision of priests or lay ministers who have knowledge of his past and of the conditions in the agreement. “We believe that the archdiocese and Father Fugee have adhered to the stipulations in all of his activities, and will continue to do so,” Goodness said

The Lie being … In addition to Fugee and Prosecutor John Molinelli, the archdiocese’s vicar general signed the agreement on behalf of Myers, pledging to abide by the restrictions on Fugee’s ministry. The document — which can be found on NJ.com, the online home of The Star-Ledger — states explicitly that Fugee may not have unsupervised contact with children, minister to children or work in any position in which children are involved. “This includes, but is not limited to, presiding over a parish, involvement with a youth group, religious education/parochial school, CCD (or Sunday school), confessions of children, youth choir, youth retreats and day care,” the agreement says

Fugee’s Letter of Resignation says: “…The leadership of the Archdiocese of Newark, especially Archbishop John Myers, did not know or approve of my actions.  My failure to request the required permissions to engage in those ministry activities is my fault, my fault alone…”

Goodness says : “He engaged in activities that the archdiocese was not aware of and that were not approved by us, and we would never have approved them because they are all in conflict with the memorandum of understanding,”

Rayanne Bennett, a spokeswoman for Trenton Bishop David M. O’Connell says:  Fugee’s work with St. Mary’s took place without the diocese’s knowledge or permission. “Upon learning of this, the diocese has addressed this matter with the parish and reached out to the archdiocese,” Bennett said in a statement. “The Archdiocese has reported that Father Fugee is a priest in good standing and free to minister in another diocese.”

The Archdiocese of Newark website says today: “The Archdiocese only learned about two weeks ago when approached by a reporter that Fr. Fugee had engaged in other activities or ministries. The activities written about in recent news stories were not part of his assigned ministry.  Had the Archdiocese known about them at the time, permission to undertake them would not have been granted.”

Goodness said on May 1 :… “The fact is, he has done nothing wrong.” He then went on to acknowledge that Even if Fugee heard private confessions from minors, those supervising Fugee were always nearby. – HUH? So there were eyes in the confessional?

The Archdiocese of Newark website says today: “Fr. Fugee remains a priest of the Archdiocese of Newark, but he no longer has faculties to minister publicly as a priest.   He cannot present himself as a priest, cannot wear clerical clothing, and cannot perform publicly the duties or activities of a priest.

What that means: Fugee will get a stipend from YOUR contributions to the collection basket, insurance from YOUR contributions to the collection basket and a place to live from YOUR contributions to the collection basket. PLUS he will be eligible for unemployment once (if) he is defrocked.

Where is the outrage?