Catholic Priest

A celebrated liturgical scholar has been permanently removed from Catholic ministry in the wake of a "credible allegation" that he had inappropriate sexual contact with a child in Baltimore three decades ago, according to Jesuit officials. The acts by the Rev. James Glenn Murray allegedly took place at St. Frances-Charles Hall, now known as St. Frances Academy, where he taught English and religion for seven years starting in 1981 and served for three of those years as assistant principal.

Notwithstanding the assertions of Dan Rodricks in his recent column ("A Catholic priest speaks up in favor of same-sex marriage," Nov. 4), there is nothing courageous in Father Richard Lawrence's support of same sex marriage. If Father Lawrence, as an ordained Roman Catholic priest, finds that his conscience does not allow him to teach Christian doctrines and the meaning of Holy Scripture as interpreted by the Roman Catholic Church, then, if he were courageous, he would resign from the priesthood and found his own denomination to teach his doctrines and interpretations of Holy Scripture along with the other more than 26,000 Protestant denominations.

Anthony James Girandola Sr., an Annapolis lawyer and a former Roman Catholic priest whose celebrated 1965 stand on married clergy led to his defrocking and ostracism, died Monday of a heart attack at Johns Hopkins Hospital. The Severna Park resident was 72.Mr. Girandola, ordained in 1948, had served parishes in Connecticut for 15 years before attracting national attention in the mid-1960s for publicly challenging the Catholic Church's stance that priests remain celibate.In 1965, he married Lorraine Hughes, a Baltimore registered nurse whom he met in 1963 while a patient at the Seton Institute.

It is truly amazing that Archbishop William E. Lori has the audacity to pose as a leader in the so-called fight for religious liberty when, in fact, he really doesn't believe in it at all ("A Catholic priest speaks up in favor of same-sex marriage," Nov. 4). Archbishop Lori has attempted to use the power of the pulpit to persuade Catholics to vote his way, which is strongly reactionary. I do not share his beliefs or the beliefs of Catholics who think the way he does. It is pretty clear that Catholics have very strong opinions on a series of issues and that there is a deep divide among practicing Catholics.

The Rev. Robert Edward McCall, a Roman Catholic priest and leading member of the Josephite order, died Wednesday at St. Joseph Manor in Baltimore of diabetes and cancer. He was 79. Father McCall served as a teacher and administrator in Catholic schools and universities, and he wrote several articles on theology and philosophy. He was particularly active in the Josephites' evangelization efforts. Father McCall was born in Westfield, Mass., and attended primary and secondary schools in and near the town.

A Roman Catholic priest, ordered by the Vatican to end his ministry to gay and lesbian Catholics, has resumed public speaking, saying he could do so, within limits, and still respect the church's directive.The priest, the Rev. Robert Nugent of Baltimore, had worked for nearly three decades with Sister Jeannine Gramick, also of Baltimore, in reaching out to gay Catholics. But the church's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith told them on July 13 that they were permanently prohibited from further pastoral work with gays and lesbians.

A Catholic Navy chaplain was sentenced to two years in prison yesterday after admitting that he forced himself on a Naval Academy midshipman, coerced a Marine he was counseling to take nude photos of him and had sex with an Air Force officer without disclosing he was HIV-positive. Lt. Cmdr. John Thomas Matthew Lee, 42, pleaded guilty to 11 charges, including aggravated assault, fraternization, forcible sodomy, conduct unbecoming an officer and wrongful use of his government computer, as part of a plea agreement with prosecutors.

Dr. Joseph William Ciarrocchi, a former priest, author, professor and chairman of pastoral counseling at Loyola University Maryland, died of multiple myeloma on Oct. 22 at Gilchrist Hospice Care in Baltimore. The Columbia resident was 66. Dr. Ciarrocchi was born during World War II in San Francisco, where his father was stationed at the Presidio army post. The family of three later moved to Philadelphia, where his mother died when Dr. Ciarrocchi was 9. His father remarried, and Dr. Ciarrocchi gained two sisters whom he adored: stepsister Maria Greenwald, who grew up to be a mayor of Cherry Hill, N.J., and was killed in a car crash 1995, and a half-sister, Lucia Lawrence of Lyndhurst, N.J. The Ciarrocchis settled in New Jersey, where Dr. Ciarrocchi's father worked as an electrical engineer for RCA Broadcast Systems, helping develop technology that improved portable videotaping.

The Rev. Edward Meeks and his flock attended to a "million and one details" last week in the run-up to a momentous day for their church. People to talk to. Flowers to arrange. Food to cook. And, of course, the new sign. On Sunday, Christ the King Church - Anglican - became Christ the King Catholic Church. The Towson congregation of about 140 is one of the first groups in the United States to join a new "ordinariate" established for those who want to be Catholic but hold on to Anglican traditions.

Notwithstanding the assertions of Dan Rodricks in his recent column ("A Catholic priest speaks up in favor of same-sex marriage," Nov. 4), there is nothing courageous in Father Richard Lawrence's support of same sex marriage. If Father Lawrence, as an ordained Roman Catholic priest, finds that his conscience does not allow him to teach Christian doctrines and the meaning of Holy Scripture as interpreted by the Roman Catholic Church, then, if he were courageous, he would resign from the priesthood and found his own denomination to teach his doctrines and interpretations of Holy Scripture along with the other more than 26,000 Protestant denominations.

Columnist Dan Rodricks ' view that Father Richard Lawrence's personal opinion supporting gay marriage was an example how the Catholic Church "refuses to hear dissent" and is "itself no democracy" couldn't be more correct ("A Catholic priest speaks up in favor of same-sex marriage," Nov. 4). Mr. Rodricks takes umbrage that the church interferes in "civil justice" but has no problem supporting the denigration of God's Word (Leviticus 20:13 that a "man shall not lie with man nor woman with woman")

While visiting friends in the Baltimore area, I saw Dan Rodricks ' column "A priest speaks up for same-sex marriage" (Nov. 4). As a Catholic priest myself, I am dismayed by Archbishop William E. Lori's assertion that "preaching ... requires subordination of personal views to the word of God" in response to the Rev. Richard T. Lawrence's nuanced distinctions. It was precisely Jesus' personal views that led him to freely and frequently dissent in interpreting Torah Law (word of God)

Last Sunday in Baltimore's St. Vincent de Paul Church, its longtime pastor, the Rev. Richard T. Lawrence, delivered a thoughtful and nuanced argument for support of the Question 6 ballot referendum. This, of course, was news in Roman Catholic circles — an opinion from the pulpit fully at odds with the hierarchy of a church that has devoted much time and money to voter rejection of a Maryland law that allows couples of the same sex to wed. Lawrence is the most eloquent homilist I've ever heard.

The Rev. Edward F. McNally, a Roman Catholic priest who later became executive director of the Franciscan Center, died Saturday of lymphoma at the University of Maryland Medical Center. The Mount Washington resident was 46. "Ed had volunteered here when he was a seminarian at St. Mary's. Afterward, he saw an ad in the paper for executive director of the Franciscan Center and applied," said Sister Ellen Carr, former interim director of the center and now a member of its board. "I hired him and felt totally comfortable turning over the reins to him," said Sister Ellen.

The Rev. Edward Meeks and his flock attended to a "million and one details" last week in the run-up to a momentous day for their church. People to talk to. Flowers to arrange. Food to cook. And, of course, the new sign. On Sunday, Christ the King Church - Anglican - became Christ the King Catholic Church. The Towson congregation of about 140 is one of the first groups in the United States to join a new "ordinariate" established for those who want to be Catholic but hold on to Anglican traditions.

A Gaithersburg priest who was put on administrative leave from his parish after a controversial funeral Mass at which he denied Communion to a lesbian said in a statement Wednesday that he "did the only thing a faithful Catholic priest could do" and suggested that archdiocesan leaders and the woman were lying. The Rev. Marcel Guarnizo had declined to comment publicly since the Feb. 25 Mass at St. John Neumann Catholic Church, where Barbara Johnson was mourning her mother. Having learned just before the Mass that Johnson, a 51-year-old D.C. artist, was a lesbian living with her partner, Guarnizo refused to let her receive Communion.

As a journalist for cable channel CNN, 34-year-old Thomas Roberts usually is the one making the inquiries. But in Sins of the Father, a compelling documentary on the sexual abuse he suffered at the hands of a Catholic priest at Towson's Calvert Hall High School, he's the one answering questions. SINS OF THE FATHER / / Airs at 10 p.m. tomorrow on CNN

Columnist Dan Rodricks ' view that Father Richard Lawrence's personal opinion supporting gay marriage was an example how the Catholic Church "refuses to hear dissent" and is "itself no democracy" couldn't be more correct ("A Catholic priest speaks up in favor of same-sex marriage," Nov. 4). Mr. Rodricks takes umbrage that the church interferes in "civil justice" but has no problem supporting the denigration of God's Word (Leviticus 20:13 that a "man shall not lie with man nor woman with woman")

A celebrated liturgical scholar has been permanently removed from Catholic ministry in the wake of a "credible allegation" that he had inappropriate sexual contact with a child in Baltimore three decades ago, according to Jesuit officials. The acts by the Rev. James Glenn Murray allegedly took place at St. Frances-Charles Hall, now known as St. Frances Academy, where he taught English and religion for seven years starting in 1981 and served for three of those years as assistant principal.

Dr. Joseph William Ciarrocchi, a former priest, author, professor and chairman of pastoral counseling at Loyola University Maryland, died of multiple myeloma on Oct. 22 at Gilchrist Hospice Care in Baltimore. The Columbia resident was 66. Dr. Ciarrocchi was born during World War II in San Francisco, where his father was stationed at the Presidio army post. The family of three later moved to Philadelphia, where his mother died when Dr. Ciarrocchi was 9. His father remarried, and Dr. Ciarrocchi gained two sisters whom he adored: stepsister Maria Greenwald, who grew up to be a mayor of Cherry Hill, N.J., and was killed in a car crash 1995, and a half-sister, Lucia Lawrence of Lyndhurst, N.J. The Ciarrocchis settled in New Jersey, where Dr. Ciarrocchi's father worked as an electrical engineer for RCA Broadcast Systems, helping develop technology that improved portable videotaping.