May 26, 2006--Friday Fanaticism XXXVI--Father Fay

The parishioners should have known something was wrong when their parish priest, Father Michael Jude Fay, seemed to be more interested in decorating the rectory than in the Sacraments.

Then there were the wild parties Father Fay ran in that rectory, “risqué parties” in the words of his assistant pastor, Michael Madden. Father Madden was so upset by these that he would sit in his car for hours, waiting for the revelers “to pass out from drinking” so he could return to the rectory without being hassled.

Father Fay was also seen to play frequent overnight host, again in the rectory, to a man with whom he owned property in New York and Florida—the implication being that they were doing more than discussing real estate taxes.

According to the NY Times (story linked below), Father Madden felt he needed to do something but did not trust the bishop to investigate the situation. On his own, therefore, he hired a private investigator who found $200,000 in “questionable expenses” after reviewing just 25 months of records—for cruises, limousines, dinners, and homes on the Upper East Side of New York City and in Florida. He also discovered that Father Fay had absconded with $10,000 that a group of teenagers had raised for charity. At least, as far as we know, he managed to keep his hands to himself.

One would assume that when this came to light the bishop would discipline Father Fay and reward, or minimally acknowledge Father Madden’s good work. Not quite—no one knows where Fay is, but we do know that the priestly whistle-blower is the one being disciplined—for hiring the private eye.

Bishop Lori relieved him of his assignment, having determined that he required “a period of rest and reflection,” while Lori searched for a new priest for the Darien, Connecticut congregation. Parishioners, though, were so enraged about the situation that the good bishop relented and assigned Father Madden to run the parish on “an interim basis” while seeking a permanent pastor and before sending Father Madden off to his rest.

Darien is one of the wealthiest communities in America. Their priest was paid $28,000 a year plus room and board. OK, so much for the vow of poverty.

But then why would parishioners, as reported in the Times, not think twice before plopping $10,000 into the weekly collection plate? What did they think was happening to all that cash? Maybe it was just a case of the folks from Darien getting what they paid for.