NEW YORK
The New York Times
By ANDY NEWMAN
Published: August 12, 2005
The rector of St. Patrick's Cathedral, Msgr. Eugene V. Clark, resigned yesterday amid accusations that he was having an affair with his longtime personal secretary, a married woman who is 33 years his junior.
"It appears to me," he said in a statement released by his lawyer, "that events and circumstances have been portrayed in such a false and sensational manner that I will no longer be able to effectively serve the archdiocese."
Monsignor Clark's employer, the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York, said in a statement that he had resigned "for the good of St. Patrick's and the archdiocese."
On Monday, Philip DeFilippo, who is married to Monsignor Clark's secretary, Laura DeFilippo, filed court papers alleging the relationship as part of his divorce case against his wife, who has worked for Monsignor Clark for more than 25 years. Since then, newspapers and newscasts have carried videotape images provided by Mr. DeFilippo that show Monsignor Clark, 79, and Ms. DeFilippo, 46, entering a motel in the Hamptons last month and walking out five hours later in different clothing.