BishopAccountability.org
	Mystery Surrounds Departed Roxbury Church Priest By Mike Condon Roxbury Register August 26 2010 http://www.recordernewspapers.com/articles/2010/08/26/roxbury_register/latest_news/doc4c76c3c8c2910575008661.txt Long-time parishioners of St. Therese Roman Catholic Church in Succasunna were left reeling, and with very little information, following a blanket statement at mass on Sunday, Aug. 22 informing them that a large sum of church money was missing, and that the matter was being investigated by authorities. And at the center of the investigation, according to authorities, is the parish’s long-time former priest, Father Joseph Davis, who seems to be, at least somewhat, of a mystery himself. The Rev. Robert Hooper, the temporary administrator of St. Therese Church, which is located on Main Street, Succasunna, read the following statement during mass last weekend. “I know our parish has been through a rough period of time and there has been a lot of questions and a lot of uncertainty about what has been going on since Father (Joseph) Davis left,” Hooper said. “As many of you know, Father Davis did have some serious medical issues last fall, which required an extended period of rehabilitation and recuperation,” Hooper said. “At that time, I was appointed as temporary administrator of our parish.” “Diocesan policy calls for a financial audit after a new administrator is assigned to a parish. During the audit, it was found that an amount of money was unaccounted for,” he said. “At that point, the diocese immediately turned over the investigation to the Morris County Prosecutor’s Office. Thereafter, Father Davis, for the good of the parish, resigned his position as pastor,” Hooper said. Davis’ retirement was effective on July 19. “We are unable to give you any more details at this time due to the ongoing nature of the investigation, which we are told will take several months,” he said. “In the meantime, we ask you to keep all the members of our staff in your prayers; they are working very hard to support our parish and keep all of our activities running during this very difficult time,” he said. “We have received word from Bishop Arthur Serratelli that the process has begun to select a new pastor for our parish,” he said. “The bishop asks us to join him in prayer for guidance of the Holy Spirit. We ask you to keep our parish in your prayers and especially to pray for one another during this painful time,” he said. The church referred all calls to the Diocese of Paterson, and the Morris County Prosecutor’s Office largely refused comment, saying only that the matter remains under investigation. One parishioner said the statement by Hooper was also printed in the church bulletin. The parishioner, who did not wish to be identified, said rumors have swirled about Davis for years. “It has kind of been a bizarre situation. He has been there for years, and he was always taking vacations to Africa. I know he was really sick, but that was a mystery as well,” the congregant said, adding that members of the congregation were never made aware of what, exactly, the illness was, nor how serious it was. “It was all kind of hush hush,” the parishioner said. Davis’ attorney, Jefferey Garrisan, did not return phone calls for comment. The parishioner said another parent of a student at the St. Therese School, which is adjacent to the church, has a son enrolled in the K-8 private school. “Everything there is tight lipped as well,” the parishioner said. “He (Davis) was sick for a long time, and I know that no one was permitted to visit him,” the parishioner said. “When he was sick, there were period updates on the church Web site that you could follow,” the parishioner said. The parishioner said Davis always interacted jovially with the congregation’s children, and said he communicated well with them, on their level. “He was really down to Earth with the kids.” Another parishioner said that this has not been a good past year for the 2,800 family parish. “We’ll all get through this together, but this has not been an easy time.” Still another observer pondered whether Davis, 64, simply practiced faulty or lacking bookkeeping skills. “I have been to programs where he has talked about going to Mozambique and serving as a missionary to the poor,” the observer said. Still three other parishioners contacted for comment did not return phone calls. Work Abroad Succasunna resident Richard Preuss accompanied Davis on the trip to Kenya, and has established a Web site entitled “My Kenya Trip.” “From June 12 - June 27, 2008 Fr. Davis, (the Pastor of St. Therese Church in Succasunna and a very good friend of mine) and I went to Kenya for a visit at the invitation of Rt. Rev. Martin Kivuva - Bishop of the Machakos Diocese,” Preuss wrote on the Web site. “Bishop Martin was a guest of St. Therese Parish in the summer of 2007.” “Fr. Davis and I accompanied Bishop Martin to different functions beginning with an ordination function at Christ the King Seminary- Nyeri, in the Central part of Kenya which was celebrated by Cardinal Njue and attended by senior government officials including the Vice President- Kalonzo Musyoka and Prime Minister Raila Odinga,” he wrote. “The first night, we stayed in the newly built Good Samaritan Retreat Center near Nairobi. The next day we attended a Confirmation Mass for over 950 children in the Parish of Kasikeu. The next couple of days we visited other parishes in the Diocese of Machakos including Fr. Paul’s Katangi Parish seeing the various activities that are being undertaken in the Diocese. At the Bishop’s residence, which is situated at Pope Paul VI Junior Seminary, Fr. Davis had a chance to say Mass and teach the young Seminarians.” “During this time, I visited the Catholic Media Center in Machakos and the Bishop U. Kioko Hospital,” he said. “We were able to see some of the programs and projects sponsored by the donor community whose implementation has been made possible through The St. Therese community in Succasunna,” she said. “We have been supporting St. Cecilia, Kituiuni community in Kenya for the last 10 years. The St. Therese Nutritional Program has grown from feeding the children in one preschool class in St. Cecilia, Kituiuni Primary School in 1997 to the current 1200+ children in 15 Primary Schools in 4 Different Parishes i.e. Kilungu, Kyale, Kiongwani and Kasikeu with some being sponsored by other churches. We also visited the St. Cecilia, Kituiuni Primary School, the Kituiuni Youth Polytechnic School, the Thomeandu and Kikoko Girls Primary Schools, the Computer School and Handicapped Home at Kyale Parish, the Kisekini Primary School, the Kikoko Mission Hospital, and the Precious Blood School,” he wrote on the Web site. Prior Parish Problems This is not the first time the St. Therese congregation has been plagued by scandal at the highest level. According to the Web site, BishopAccountability.org, a former priest at St. Therese was placed on “administrative leave” on 2002, following allegations from a man who said the priest molested him more than 40 years prior. The Rev. James A.D. Smith, an associate pastor at St. Therese, left the congregation.
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