Parishioners Attend Farewell Service for Sewickley Priest

CBS Pittsburgh
August 16, 2012

http://pittsburgh.cbslocal.com/2012/08/16/parishioners-attend-farewell-service-for-sewickley-priest/

[with video]


More than 1,000 people turned out at St. James Roman Catholic Church in Sewickley for a farewell mass for Rev. Daniel Valentine.

He’s resigning after six years as the pastor of that church. Bishop David Zubik attended the service.

Valentine, 63, recently came under scrutiny for some questionable website postings to a juvenile. The district attorney’s office said the postings were not criminal, but inappropriate.

“If the disposition obviously of the district attorney had been different, we wouldn’t have had this mass, but it was an opportunity to come together in a feast of Mary for people to be able to pray and that’s the most important thing that we did tonight,” Zubik said.

Several members of a group called SNAP handed out fliers outside the church seeking more information as to what exactly Valentine posted on his website and wondering what will happen to him in the future.

The group received a lukewarm reception. Some accepted the fliers and walked into the church.

“I expected to be met with a lot of resistance,” Frances Samber, of SNAP, said. “And the reason why is because this is the church where they go, this is the priest that served mass for them and therefore whenever they hear about inappropriate behavior, it’s a lot to take in.”

Bishop Zubik says he hopes Rev. Valentine returns to the ministry in the future.