ROCKVILLE CENTRE (NY)
Newsday
BY CAROL EISENBERG
STAFF WRITER
November 16, 2005
A well-regarded priest who oversaw the seminary of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Rockville Centre for five years announced in a prayer service Friday that he was stepping down immediately, stunning faculty and students.
Msgr. Francis Schneider, 49, told those gathered in the chapel of the Seminary of the Immaculate Conception in Huntington that he was resigning for personal reasons, citing stress. He said Msgr. Robert Emmet Fagan would become interim rector.
But the timing surprised some faculty members - coming a few weeks after a Vatican-ordered evaluation of the seminary, which was part of a nationwide review in response to the U.S. clergy sex abuse crisis. It also came just a few weeks before the end of the semester.