Tuesday, December 16, 2008

LifeTeen Co-Founder Ex-Comm'ed

Rare occurrence, indeed.

Msgr. Dale Fushek and Fr. Mark Dippre, neither of whom has been active in the Catholic Church in recent years, received notice of their excommunication Dec. 9 from Bishop Thomas J. Olmsted. This type of censure carries with it the consequence of not being able to receive the Eucharist, celebrate Mass or receive other sacraments of the Church. Also, they cannot represent themselves as priests

...Fushek, former vicar general for the diocese and former pastor of St. Timothy Parish in Mesa, gained prominence for co-founding Life Teen, an international youth ministry program. Bishop Olmsted suspended Fushek’s faculties in late 2004 after an allegation was made that Fushek engaged in inappropriate behavior in the presence of a minor at the Mesa parish in 1985. Fushek later resigned as the parish’s pastor on June 30, 2005. He currently faces charges on several misdemeanor counts of sexual misconduct.

That makes three US priests who've been ex-comm'd in the last 10 days or so--the first being notorious anti-war protester/Maryknoll Fr. Bourgeois.

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