2nd Altar Boy Claims He Was Abused by Mercieca
By Phil Lapadula
Washington Blade
October 27, 2006
http://www.washblade.com/2006/10-27/news/religion/religion.cfm
Fort Lauderdale, Fla. — The Catholic Archdiocese of Miami has launched an investigation of a priest who has admitted to fondling Mark Foley when the former congressman was a young teen.
In a statement posted on its website, the archdiocese barred the Rev. Anthony Mercieca from performing any priestly duties. The archdiocese also issued an apology to Foley.
Mercieca has denied having sex with the young Foley but has said he skinny-dipped and sat in saunas naked with the teen during overnight trips in the 1960s. In an interview with the CNN affiliate WPTV from his home on the Maltese island of Gozo, Mercieca admitted to fondling Foley.
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| The Rev. Anthony Mercieca is the target of an investigation by the Catholic Archdiocese of Miami, which described his alleged abuse of Mark Foley in the 1960s as 'criminal.' |
"Once maybe I touched him or so, but didn't, it wasn't — because it's not something you call, I mean, rape or penetration or anything like that, you know," Mercieca told WPTV. "We were just fondling."
Foley resigned from Congress Sept. 29 as ABC News was about to report that he had sent sexually explicit e-mails to 16- and 17-year-old former congressional male pages. Later, Foley's lawyer issued a statement saying a priest had molested the former congressman when he was a 13- to 15-year-old. The lawyer later identified Mercieca as the priest who committed the alleged abuse.
Mercieca was a priest at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Lake Worth, Fla., in the 1960s when Foley, who was an altar boy at the church, attended.
Meanwhile, a second former Florida altar boy has come forward and accused Mercieca of sexually abusing him when he was 12 years old, the Associated Press reported Wednesday. The unnamed alleged victim, who is now 40 years old, served as an altar boy at St. James parish in Miami, where Mercieca worked as assistant pastor from October 1975 to December 1985, the AP reported.
He alleged that Mercieca fondled him and performed oral sex on him after the two took a bike ride together, according to his lawyer, Jeffrey Herman. Herman told the AP that the man plans to file a lawsuit against the archdiocese.
The archdiocese released a statement Oct. 20 regarding Mercieca's disclosure about his relationship with Foley.
"The archdiocese of Miami is distressed by the revelations disclosed by Father Mercieca regarding former Rep. Mark Foley," read the statement by Mary Ross Agosta, communications director for the Archdiocese of Miami. "Such behavior is morally reprehensible, canonically criminal and inexcusable. The events described are totally contrary to the ministry of a priest."
The archdiocese said that an apology to Foley was "due" and "long in coming."
"With God's merciful grace this painful revelation can be the beginning of reconciliation and an instrument of redemption and healing for Mr. Foley," the statement said.
Mercieca served as an associate pastor at eight South Florida parishes from November 1965 through October 2002, according to the archdiocese.
His last assignment was as associate pastor at Blessed Trinity in Miami from June 1993 to October 2002. The current pastor at Blessed Trinity Catholic Church did not return a phone call seeking comment. A spokesperson at St. Henry Catholic Church in Pompano Beach, where Mercieca was associate pastor from April 1987 through June 1993, said neither the current pastor nor anyone on staff knows Mercieca.
Expert: molesters often rationalize behavior
Helen Friedman, a clinical psychologist in St. Louis who specializes in compulsive sexual behaviors as well as gay and lesbian issues, said it is not unusual for molesters to minimize their actions the way Mercieca has done with his alleged encounters with Foley. She described fondling as sexual behavior.
"Often in situations where people molest, there is denial and distorted thinking, including rationalizing and minimizing," Friedman said. "To admit the behavior would be too painful for them."
Friedman said alleged sex offenders should be treated with compassion because they are often victims of abuse themselves.
"I always read these kinds of stories with a great deal of compassion for both the victim and the perpetrator," Friedman said. She noted that the priest's alleged abuse doesn't excuse Foley's behavior "but it partially explains it."
Foley's inappropriate communications with pages have so far not been shown to be illegal and he has denied having sexual contact with teens.
Friedman said offenders seldom receive any sympathy from the public, who tend to lump all sex offenders together.
Friedman added that it is "disturbing" when people associate Foley's type of behavior with being gay.
"It has nothing to do with being gay," she said.
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