Dale Fushek, the once-popular Catholic pastor
who lost his position and ultimately was excommunicated and defrocked in
the church-abuse scandal, finally is speaking out in his own defense.
In a new book, The Unexpected Life, and in an interview with The Arizona Republic -
his first since he was arrested in late 2005 - Fushek details a
hell-and-back story in which he denies ever having done anything that
might have led to the accusations he faced.
Charged with several misdemeanors, he ultimately was convicted of one
- for what he calls accidental contact.
He maintains that any legal
settlements made on his behalf were made not out of guilt but a desire
to hold down costs.
The former priest also attacks Bishop Thomas Olmsted, the man who
moved to throw Fushek out of the priesthood, calling him a "symbol of
all that is wrong with the institution of the Catholic Church."
The diocese declined to comment.
At the time of Fushek's excommunication, Olmsted said the diocese
wanted to discourage Catholics from following Fushek to his new church,
the Praise and Worship Center in Chandler.
When Fushek was laicized (reduced to lay status), a diocese spokesman
said, "When a trust is violated, we have to restore the credibility of
the church."
Vernon Meyer, another former priest who has been teaching at Praise
and Worship, says the people attending his classes are engaged and
involved, and he gives Fushek credit for attracting people to his
ministry.
Meyer said he believes the diocese had a particular problem with
Fushek's starting his own church rather than leaving the ministry
altogether or joining another Christian denomination.
Started church in '07
Fushek is the only local priest to be caught in the abuse scandal who
emerged with an intact ministry. He began his own church in 2007.
Fushek was an important and well-liked figure in the local church.
As
pastor of St. Timothy in Mesa from 1985 until 2005, he built the parish
into one of the largest and most prosperous in the city.
He began Life Teen, an international ministry for teens, and he
oversaw the Phoenix Diocese's largest events, including the visits of
Pope John Paul II and Mother Teresa to Arizona.
He was appointed vicar
general and assigned the task of getting a new diocesan headquarters
built.
He even won the prestigious title of monsignor, given through the Vatican to the most
distinguished priests.
Fushek became a close, trusted confidant to former Bishop Thomas
O'Brien, standing by him throughout the abuse crisis and the fatal auto
accident that ended O'Brien's career in 2003.
Of the accident, which resulted in dramatic headlines and a long
trial, Fushek writes, "I believe in my heart of hearts that Bishop
O'Brien truly believed that somebody was out after him. There had been
death threats against him, and I think his instinct was to get home
where he would be safe."
Fushek calls the incident a "senseless tragedy," says that the bishop
had been operating in a "state of siege mentality," and that he "wasn't
thinking clearly."
The result, he says, is that "a good man had been
destroyed as a human being."
Beginning of the end
Although an earlier settlement of a sexual-harassment allegation was a
crack in the armor, Fushek's downfall began with the arrival of Olmsted
in late 2003 to replace O'Brien.
Fushek says that he believes Olmsted
was determined to get rid of him but that to this day, Fushek does not
fully understand why.
"I don't know what is in his heart, but I know he treated me badly," he said.
It started with an allegation that Fushek witnessed sexual abuse at
St. Timothy involving a seminarian who later, as a priest, served 10
years in prison for abuse.
Fushek vigorously denies that any such thing
happened.
No criminal charges were filed, and a civil suit later was
settled out of court without any admission of wrongdoing.
But it cost Fushek his career as a Catholic priest.
He was suspended and forced to resign as pastor.
Fushek now says he believes there are people in diocesan leadership who hoped the allegations were true.
"I am still in a state of disbelief that I could go from making
decisions that helped guide the Diocese of Phoenix for years and years
to being someone who is so expendable to the Catholic hierarchy and the
church," Fushek writes.
While he was on leave awaiting closure in that case, things got
worse.
In 2005, Fushek was arrested and charged with 10 misdemeanor
counts of indecent exposure, contributing to the delinquency of minors
and other charges.
The case took five years to resolve; all but one of
the charges were dropped in exchange for a single guilty plea.
Tried too hard
In the interview with The Republic, Fushek acknowledges that
in his efforts to "break the mold" of the parish priest who does not
interact with church members, he may have been misunderstood. In the
book, he says he may have tried too hard to be "one of the guys."
He agrees that he perhaps became too close to those active in the
Life Teen movement, but he continues to deny he intended to harm anyone.
He believes diocese leaders, however, intended to harm him.
"I have been told the diocese worked directly with the county attorney to destroy me," he said.
Fushek says he does not understand why the bishop took a stand
against him. The closest he can come is that the two have quite
different views of what the Catholic Church ought to be.
Olmsted, he said, is a teacher, focused on what's right and what's
wrong. Fushek said he is a pastor, ready to teach right from wrong but
helping those in the wrong back into the church's good graces.
"I believed in a big tent," Fushek said. "He wanted to purify the church."
In the book, Fushek writes about Olmsted, "He excommunicates, not
reconciles. He evaluates rules and rubrics, and cares little about
spirituality."
Fushek says he had but three conversations with Olmsted, and in one
of them, the bishop told him church lawyers were looking for ways to
excommunicate him.
Olmsted and his vicar for priests at the time, the Rev. Jim Wall (now
bishop of Gallup, N.M.), even ignored information that Fushek was
suicidal, Fushek writes in the book.
"I believe in my heart of hearts that Tom Olmsted hoped I would end my own life," Fushek writes.
Fushek came out of his depression and now leads a 400-member
congregation in Chandler.
Fushek says that he is not trying to lure
Catholics away from their faith, but that his Praise and Worship Center
is a place where a growing number of alienated Catholics will feel at
home.
He believes he, his associates and his members at the center are on
the right track spiritually, with the possibility "that this could
blossom into something huge."
But he misses the Catholic Church.
"I feel I never left the Catholic Church," he said. "They left me. I
have a lot of gratitude and respect for the church. I also know I need
to move on."