BishopAccountability.org
	Parishioners Support Ailing Staten Island Priest Staten Island Advance December 6, 2009 http://www.silive.com/news/index.ssf/2009/12/parishioners_support_ailing_st.html STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- At the 9 a.m. mass this morning at St. Peter's R.C. Church, the handful of parishioners in attendance listened to a sermon about the rewards of living virtuously, as light filtered through the chapel's glorious stained glass windows depicting Jesus and his sacrifices. But the comforting rituals of faith did little to ease worshipers' questions about a decision by the New York Archdiocese to dismiss the Rev. Eusebio Pablito Maghari - the priest who for the past six years presided over the 9 a.m. mass at the New Brighton Church. Father Maghari, who suffers from acute kidney disease and requires expensive treatment was apparently told by church authorities he must return to his native Philippines. "It's crazy, it really is; you can't take the roof away from over his head," said Sharon Mortenson, of New Brighton, one of many parishioners who have banded together around the 59-year-old spiritual leader they refer to as Father Pabs or Father Pablito. After being ordered out of the rectory by Dec. 1, the priest this weekend took shelter in the home of a parishioner, said Ms. Mortenson. "I feel personally they could do a lot more to help him," she said. Father Maghari is on dialysis every week, has lost sight in one eye and is on a strict diet. The medical care for his treatment costs roughly $1,000 a week, he told the Advance last week. The Archdiocese sent a letter to the ailing priest stripping him of his authority to say mass and administer the sacraments, such as baptism and marriage. "He can perform his duties when he feels good," said Ms. Mortenson, adding she was approached by the Rev. Maghari one Sunday in October after mass, with the request she take him to Richmond University Medical Center for emergency care. His health has since deteriorated, she said. A church spokesman explained last week that since Father Maghari is still officially a member of his Philippine diocese, his care is the responsibility of its bishop, the Most Rev. Jose Romeo Lazo. The spokesman has yet to be reached today for comment on any updates. Parishioners said they appealed to Monsignor James Dorney, co-regional vicar of Staten Island who is also at St. Peter's R.C. Church. He assured them he would do what he could, they said. The priest presiding over mass today, the Rev. Joseph Javillo, said he was unaware of the controversy. "It's shocking because we always felt as Catholics the Archdiocese will take care of you no matter where you come from," said Roberta Thompson, of St. George, who has been a parishioner at St. Peter's for the past two decades. Although her faith remains intact, she said the decision to oust a sick man from the job he has done for the past 33 years, has made her skeptical of church politics. "He was a good priest," she said. "To be thrown out like kind of threw us for a loop. They're not practicing what they're preaching."
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