Ever Hear of Fr.Dale Fushek, Catholic Priest?

               The catholic priest who founded "life teen," former Monsignor Dale Fushek, was suspended  by the catholic church back in  late 2004, when allegations were raised that he had engaged in improper sexual conduct with teens. A year later he was charged with several misdemeanor criminal counts of assault, contributing to the delinquency of a minor and indecent exposure.
          Fushek was suspended when he was accused in a civil suit of sexual abuse involving another priest and a teenaged boy.  The parties reached a $100,000 settlement outside of court.
Later, Fushek was accused of the sexual exploitation of a minor and indecent exposure from relationships with five teenage boys between 1984 and 1993.

           All this comes to light anew amid the revelation that he and another less than stellar former priest, have started a new kind of  service ('Praise and Worship Center') that is gathering crowds.  So much so that it has prompted the catholic church to issue a statement warning "good, well meaning" catholics to avoid these services.  Whether this warning is because of the sexual misconduct allegations against Fushek or because of the threat of competition he poses is debatable. Me, im leaning toward the competition angle since, after all, the church has NEVER been very forthcoming with warnings about their pedophile priests before, now have they ........

          Jim Dwyer, spokesman for the Phoenix Diocese, told CNS that it's unclear what the plans are for the Praise and Worship Center, Dwyer said. "In a sense, it's competing with the Catholic Church. If they're not trying to draw people away, why are they trying to get people to contribute to building up something?"
Brad Kuluris, a Catholic and spokesman for Fushek's 'Praise and Worship Center', said "I think people are looking for a style of preaching that's new and invigorating," Kuluris said. "You've seen these mega churches. People are looking for preaching that brings new life to ancient ideas."

Stories here & here

http://catholicnewsagency.com/new.php?n=11380

http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/0800243.htm