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	Board to Investigate McKinney Pastor over Complaints about His Participation on Gay Web Site By Sam Hodges Dallas Morning News May 15, 2008 http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/localnews/stories/DN-priest_15met.ART.East.Edition1.46a39a6.html A review board of the Catholic Diocese of Dallas will investigate complaints about the past participation of the Rev. Arthur Mallinson on a Web site for gay priests. Father Mallinson, who has served the diocese for more than 25 years, resigned Tuesday as pastor of St. Michael the Archangel Parish in McKinney after only two weeks there. He did so amid complaints to the diocese from the McKinney parish and beyond that were sparked by widely circulated Internet postings about his participation in the Web site several years ago. Bishop Kevin Farrell said Wednesday that a lay board will investigate "allegations" about Father Mallinson and the Web site. The site, now defunct, allowed priests of homosexual orientation who, like other priests, are to remain celibate to support one another. But the site grew to include sexually explicit material and was exposed by a Catholic watchdog group. "Father Mallinson continues to maintain that his involvement on the Web site in question was strictly for spiritual and prayerful support," Bishop Farrell said Wednesday. The bishop said the review board would investigate and report back to him. Bishop Farrell called a news conference Wednesday at which he read a prepared statement. He didn't take questions. He noted that Father Mallinson has not been accused of any crimes and resigned out of "deep concern for the spiritual well-being of the parish." Father Mallinson recently was reassigned to the McKinney parish after a decade at St. Francis of Assisi Parish in Lancaster. Parishioners there started a petition drive of support for him Wednesday and some said they want him back. "He's done marvelous work," Paul Fehmel said. "He's the kind of person anybody would be proud to know and call their spiritual guide." Lancaster Mayor Joe Tillotson, a charter member of the parish, said he wouldn't sign the petition because he feels priest placement should be left to the bishop. But he said he would be fine with having Father Mallinson back. "He did all the things that a good parish priest is supposed to do," said Mr. Tillotson, who added that he and many others in the parish knew of the priest's sexual orientation and of his participation in the Web site, a fact that briefly made news in 2002. Bishop Farrell said he will begin the process of finding a new pastor for the McKinney parish.
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