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  Priest, Diocese at Odds

By Susan Evans
Tribune-Democrat [Pennsylvania]
May 3, 2005

Growing up in Lilly, John Nesbella never expected to become a priest.

Just the opposite.

"In my high school years, I wasn't Mr. Holy Roller by any means," he admits.

"In the 1970s I did a lot of partying, and I was even in jail once on a minor drug charge. I was mostly away from the church in my 20s," he said in an interview.

But after college and a stint in the military, when he was 33, everything changed.

"I had a calling," he said, "a very clear calling, to become a priest."

And so, at an age when most are partway up the career ladder, Nesbella started at the bottom rung, in seminary.

It was there that he encountered homosexuality among priests, he said, and where his problem with the Roman Catholic hierarchy began.

"It was very open. It was scandalous," he said. "I thought maybe it's just that way here, but I later found it was the church's

No. 1 problem, but also the No. 1 thing that you do not speak against."

Now - at age 42 and after speaking out loudly - Nesbella is out in the cold.

After filing a lawsuit against the Roman Catholic Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown, claiming he was sexually abused at the age of 16 by a priest who is now dead, Nesbella on Feb. 18 was placed on a leave of absence and may not publicly perform any priestly duties.

He says it is retaliation against his strong anti-homosexual stances and intimidation to force him to drop the lawsuit.

"I've been basically fired," Nesbella said. "I am being punished for reporting sexual abuse."

But diocese officials say that a priest can hardly sue the diocese and serve the diocese at the same time.

"Your public expression of intention to litigate against your own diocesan church and its bishop in civil court would lead to confusion among the majority of the faithful, if you were to remain in active service," Bishop Joseph Adamec wrote in a March 10 letter to Nesbella.

"Once this situation is resolved and you have had sufficient time to discern, you and I need to discuss your return to active priestly ministry," the bishop wrote.

Adamec said Nesbella is not being punished for his anti-gay activities, which have included distributing a pamphlet that explicitly described the dangers of gay sex and derided homosexual marriage and a public accusation by Nesbella that the church is covering up sex abuse including "openly homosexual seminarians, teachers and clergy."

The bishop issued a gag order after those activities, infuriating conservative Catholics, who said it was an example of what they view as the bishop's weak stance against homosexuality.

But Adamec insists that was not the reason for his placing Nesbella on leave.

"You stated that you have a difficulty with the bishops of the United States, including myself. It appeared to me that you would be pastorally ineffective, due to the uncertainty that you expressed," Adamec wrote to Nesbella.

Other diocese officials agree.

"This matter has nothing to do with orthodoxy and Father Nesbella's statements about homosexuality," said Rob Egan, diocese secretary for communications. "The two issues have not been confused by the diocese and should not be misconstrued by the public.

"Given the circumstances, Bishop Joseph and the diocesan church have reached out and shown compassion to Father Nesbella even as litigation continues against them," Egan said.

The priest sees it differently.

"I asked not be to placed on leave, but the bishop said, 'No, I'm putting you on leave, and we will not talk about anything until you drop the lawsuit,' " Nesbella said.

"The diocese were the ones who made a big deal of the lawsuit," he said. "The only reason I was fired was the lawsuit."

Author Michael S. Rose, whose book "Good-bye, Good Men" documented homosexuality in the priesthood, writes that priests who speak out against wrongdoing in their own ranks often are punished, even defrocked.

"Despite the fact that most Western governments have laws designed to shield whistleblowers (those who come forward with evidence of illegal or immoral practices in their company or institution) from retaliation by employers, the Catholic Church offers no such protection for her priests or other Church employees," he writes in the current issue of New Oxford Review, a conservative magazine.

Conservative Catholics in the Altoona-Johnstown diocese and at parishes Nesbella has most recently served, including Holy Name in Ebensburg and Prince of Peace in Northern Cambria, say they are upset at Nesbella's fate.

"He feels he is doing what must be done to expose the homosexual rot that still exists in dioceses like ours and is at peace about his decision to pursue this route," said Dr. Brian Kopp of Johnstown.

"Father Nesbella has been referred to as outspoken and controversial because he has spoken publicly about the dangers and immorality of the gay lifestyle and key teachings of the Catholic Church," said Terrie Ledwich of Johnstown.

"I call that merely being orthodox and faithful to the teachings of Christ's Church.

"Isn't that what our priests are supposed to do?" Ledwich said. "Maybe Jesus was called controversial and outspoken also."

Nesbella insists that he won't back down.

"Homosexuality within the Church is being covered up," he said. "We gave the bishops the chance to clean it up, and we're disappointed. They are merely continuing to cover it up. Our only choice is the secular court."

The Church's national program, Protecting God's Children, is not working, Nesbella said.

"It focuses on lay people, but remember, it is a priest sex-abuse scandal, not a volunteer scandal," he said.

"Nothing is being done to address the main problem, which is homosexuality in the priesthood.

"But I've learned that the sacred cow is homosexuality. You do not speak out against it," he said.

"In this diocese, I've been harassed and threatened for discussing this problem."

Nesbella's status now is that he cannot perform as a priest, but the diocese is paying him two-thirds of his salary and providing his health insurance.

But he worries about the future.

"Am I marked?" he asked. "What is my future? Can I stay in the church?

"I was born Roman Catholic. I did the right thing," he said. "I tried, and I want to do everything I can to stand for God, but this problem has not been solved, and they are continuing to cover it up.

"Are we supposed to live in fear? Why are we priests? We're supposed to speak the truth. I'm not going to be a liar, I just want to be a priest."

On the other side, the bishop insists that his door is open to Nesbella.

"We continue to care about you and your welfare," Adamec wrote to Nesbella.

"You should feel free to speak with me at any time. You have the phone numbers."

 
 

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