Fr. Mark Gantley, a canon lawyer and EWTN Catholic Expert who came on as the Parish Administrator of St. Francis of Assisi in 2009, was dismissed suddenly from his position there in June 2010.
Astounded parishioners were given no reason for the dismissal. Many considered Fr. Gantley a very solid priest with efficient administration skills. He had a policy of clarity and openness regarding parish finances (one of his first actions was to publish the parish accounting information in a bulletin insert).
After many inquiries, Fr. Gantley eventually published this letter in the bulletin attempt to answer the questions, although it contained no actual details of his dismissal. The same weekend that this appeared it in the bulletin, a group of concerned St. Francis parishioners circulated an open letter that they had written, encouraging them to let their voices be heard and to tell the Bishop they did not want Fr. Gantley to go. Just days after Fr. Gantley's letter to the parish, the Bishop terminated Fr. Gantley's parish duties on the spot, leaving the parish in turmoil.
After several weeks, the Bishop finally responded with this letter to parishioners. In a diocese that is very short of priests, why would the Bishop send away a priest that on the surface has done nothing wrong? Maybe after the financial audit is complete, then a different story may appear but if the audit shows that no funds were mishandled then this just adds to the mystery.
Note: I have just heard from a parishioner at St. Frances that Fr. Urnick is stepping down as Parish Administrator and Fr. John Assalone, who was just ordained to the priesthood last year on May 14, 2009, is now going to be the new Parish Administrator. He and Steven Hoffer, a recent addition to St.Francis (and to the priesthood, being ordained only in 2005), are now in charge of this large parish and responsible for building a church and grade school. This seems like a big task for two priests that only have six years of combined experience.
Thursday, September 30, 2010
21 comments:
Comments can used to agree or disagree with the facts presented, and to express feelings of concern or support, but remember we are Catholic, so please be respectful. You may be commenting anonymously, but remember you are not anonymous to God.
If you have commented and the comment wasn't published, it's because you have made an unsupported accusation, called someone nasty names, used curse words, or were otherwise insulting. Revise your comment according to these guidelines and try again.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I am a parishioner of St Francis of Assisi. I was blessed to have Father Mark J Gantley as my Parish priest. He was easily the best priest we have ever had. We, the parishioners, including all of the ministry heads wrote and begged Bishop Pepe to allow Father Mark to remain. We were ignored. As far as the audit was concerned, it was Father Mark that requested it. He is an exemplary priest, above reproach
ReplyDeleteHelping to build the Parish Center at St. Francis of Assisi was a wonderful experience. When our founding pastor left we prayed for a great leader. Our prayers were answered when Fr. Mark J. Gantley arrived to take over as our new PASTOR. Then he was brutally dismissed after only 9 months of service. Why, we asked and received no truthful answers. In Bishop Pepe's letter of May 22, 2010 he assured the parishioners of St. Francis that Fr. Charles Urnick is "fully committed" I guess a full committment only lasts 2 months in the eyes of Bishop Pepe and Fr. Charles Urnick. Or was the parish really to go to Fr. John from the very beginning and Fr. Charles was doing the Bishop a favor. The cover-ups in the diocese of Las Vegas are beyond bearable. Why would anyone want to contribute to a diocese that is so corrupt? Please help us clean up the "Devil's Playground"!
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteLiterally hundreds of parishioners of St Francis of Assisi contacted the office of Bishop Pepe asking him to retain Father Mark. Most of us had never even considered questioning our Bishop before, but this time we were compelled because we loved our priest and our parish. Bishop Pepe clearly was angry with us and took it out on Father Mark. We should have the right to speak with our bishop without worrying that our priest would pay the price for what we did.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteI am a member of St. Francis. I had the utmost respect for Father Mark, and I'm one of the parishoners who wrote letters and contacted Bishop Pepe to beg him to let him stay. That being said, Father John is doing a great job as parish administrator. Yes, he doesn't have much experience as a priest, but his 'other world' experience involves administration and organization activities, and he definitely has the personality for this. I don't think anyone should worry about the parish, it's in good hands.
ReplyDeleteDear Anonymous 10/4/2010 8:18 a.m. posting,
ReplyDeleteLet's keep the focus where it belongs and that is on a Bishop who has severe deficiencies in both "managerial and administrative skills" not to mention the lack of people skills for his priests and his flock.
This is not about the newly announced parish administrator of St. Francis of Assisi. You are correct that he lacks priestly experience and I sincerely doubt that his worldly experience will make up for that. In fact it could be a huge deterent. I for one am looking for someone to help get me to heaven not to entertain me 24/7! And I believe there is deep need to worry about the parish of St. Francis and the diocese of Las Vegas. We are living in the "Devil's Playground" and the Devil is smart enough to work from within the Church to get what he wants.
This is not about Father John or if the parish is in good hands. This is about Father Mark and why he was recruited from a wonderful position as judicial vicar of the diocese of Hawaii with the promise of becoming our pastor and then before he even moved here, but after he resigned his position, the Diocese of Las Vegas backtracked. Why would they do that?
ReplyDeleteWhat happened? Father Mark was betrayed, plain and simple.
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteI am a parishioner of St. Francis Catholic Church. We begged Bishop Pepe to hear us and inform us why Fr. Mark was terminated without just cause. For while, I almost lost my faith in the Roman Catholic religion because his termination was not reasonably justified. I do not believe that Fr. John has enough experience to head the Parish. I have learned so much from Fr. Mark and he was a good Administrator. It is sad that there is too much politics in the diocese and I believe that there should be a change of leadership and that should start from Bishop Pepe.
ReplyDeleteHaving been a lifelong Catholic, I have known many priests. Not one of them could hold a candle to Father Mark. He is the best priest ever. He is a wonderful administrator, preacher, and spiritual father. We the members of St Francis of Assisi will never forget him. There is not one day that goes by that he isn't mentioned with love. We will miss him always. What was done to him was shameful. I love my Pope, I love my Catholic Church, I love Father Mark Gantley, but the diocese of Las Vegas; not so much.
ReplyDeleteI remember so clearly the day the announcement was made that Father Mark would be leaving St Francis of Assisi. There was an audible gasp by the parishioners. No one could believe what they were hearing. Why would the Bishop take him from us? He had done nothing wrong. We began to hear rumors that a small group of parishioners were angry at Father Mark because he refused to show the favoritism toward them that they had become accustomed to and they, who were also friends of the Bishop, had plotted to force him out. We, the majority of the parishioners, begged the Bishop to let Father Mark stay. We explained to him that he was a great priest, that we loved him, and that for the good of our parish he needed to stay. To say we were ignored is an understatement. We have now come to believe that it was never the intent of Bishop Pepe to allow Father Mark to be our pastor and that those who consider themselves "the elite" of ST Francis of Assisi just helped him achieve that end. Our parish will never be the same, we love Father Mark and we will NEVER forget him and we will NEVER forget how he and we were betrayed.
ReplyDeleteI am a daily mass goer and care a lot about what is going on. I love Fr. John dearly. He makes an ideal "poster child" for priestly vocations of men who have it all but still seeking the "sublime mission." We are lucky to have him, and he should be retained by the parish. However, it was very questionable of Bishop Pepe to get rid of the most gifted and best qualified priest in Father Mark, ignoring the objections of hundreds of parishioners who are working so hard towards building our church and school. He should quickly entrust the future of our church into the hands of a proven, highly successful and experienced priest. He should not play politics in such an important issue otherwise the call for him to resign will be justified.
ReplyDeleteGod Bless Father Mark. We love him and we miss him.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteDear Anonymous, Posting OCTOBER 12, 2010 2:16 PM
ReplyDeleteThen that is what we should do - ask for Bishop Pepe's resignation! How can we make this happen peacefully and immediately, my fellow parishioners?
I believe the major problem is that the bishops answer to no one. Anytime power goes unchecked, the probability is that the person quickly loses perspective and makes decisions contrary to the best interests of the rest of us. Although there are many good and holy bishops, there are those who see their parishioners as just names and numbers on the weekly collection envelopes. Without checks and balances, Bishop Pepe was able to remove Father Mark without cause and we the parishioners had no one higher up to appeal to.
ReplyDeleteWe were very disappointed in the behavior of the other priests in the diocese of Las Vegas for not supporting Father Mark as they should have, but we kind of understood why they were afraid to. I must say however, I do hope their consciences bother them.
I felt the same way - that the other priests were afraid to stick their necks out for Fr. Mark. They must have known Bishop Pepe's MO (modus operandi).
ReplyDeleteLetters were written to the superiors of Bishop Pepe. His Archbishop, his Cardinal, and even as high up as the Vatican. Sadly, none of them did anything to help the situation. Some chose to remain quiet while a few were too ambitious to move up, they suck up to the Bishop Pepe. This is one of the reasons the Catholic Church is so embroiled in scandals.
I pray the priests in our diocese will look up to Fr Mark as a role model who was willing to suffer the consequences for speaking the truth. He took a major risk. This whole incident is an eye opener. There is so much we can do if we come together for the sake of the entire Diocese of LV.
I agree, the priests of the diocese, by their silence not only hurt Father Mark, but themselves as well. We went to them, as we always had for council and their healing and were ignored. I no longer have the respect for them I once had. I try to be understanding, but I confess I am having trouble doing so. Shouldn't they practice what they preach? I ask myself why? Was it just fear of the bishop or was jealousy involved? After all, Father Mark is an exceptional priest. He is highly intelligent, compassionate, understanding and most importantly, very, very holy. Many of us agree that he is without a doubt the best priest we have ever known. I guess we will never know for sure why the other priests stood silent. I only know that I am very disappointed that they did.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteWe really miss Father Mark. This diocese needs him more than ever.
ReplyDelete