NEWTON (MA)
Daily News Tribune
By Jessica Fargen and Bernie Smith
Tuesday, September 27, 2005
As angry parishioners and politicians launched a vigil last night to protest the ouster of the Rev. Walter Cuenin from Our Lady Help of Christians Church in Newton, an Archdiocese of Boston insider was named to replace him.
The Rev. Christopher J. Coyne, who served as the archdiocese spokesman at the height of the clergy sexual abuse scandal, is Our Lady's new pastor as of today.
``I'm going to the parish very excited but also very apprehensive because I know that people are upset,'' Coyne said.
Cuenin was removed late last week. The archdiocese has stated that an audit turned up unauthorized stipends and car expenses paid to Cuenin by the parish totaling more than $75,000. Many church critics contend Cuenin's questioning of the church hierarchy and outspoken support for gay rights led to his ouster. ...
State Sen. Jarrett Barrios (D-Cambridge) said that when priests protested the handling of the sex-abuse crisis, ``The leader of those priests was your priest Walter Cuenin . . . while others did nothing, he stood up.''