Pastor, 3 Priests from Elizabeth Church Get Their Walking Papers
By Ryan Hutchins and Mike Frassinelli
ELIZABETH — It was not the usual kind of Christmas message. When parishioners from St. Mary of the Assumption Parish in Elizabeth arrived for Mass on Sunday, they had no idea they would be saying goodbye to three priests and a monsignor who have served the parish for decades. "This is all a mystery to me," Msgr. Robert Harrington, the pastor of St. Mary’s, the oldest church in Union County, wrote in a letter to parishioners. "... We regret leaving, and so suddenly, and at this time of year." Jim Goodness, a spokesman for Archbishop John J. Myers said the changes were necessary for the parish’s success, and that they should not come as a surprise. He cited Harrington’s medical problems, which led him to take a leave of absence about 10 years ago, and the parish’s financial difficulties in recent years. "A new pastor needs to step in with a whole new pastoral team to restore the parish to a much better financial and pastoral footing for the future," Goodness said today. But Harrington, 68, who has used a motorized cart since he had his left leg partly amputated due to complications from diabetes, told The Star-Ledger today: "I am very able, within the situation here, to get around. I have a hospital bed. There’s an elevator outside my door. The church is handicapped-accessible, and the church put in a ramp." Harrington described how he had preached the 8 a.m., 9:30 a.m. and noon Masses on Sunday, was a celebrant for the 8 p.m. Filipino Mass, and was about to preside over three Christmas Eve Masses Tuesday night. As for the troubled finances, he said the church owed the archdiocese $1.4 million — a debt that could be traced to 1994, when the archdiocese stopped providing more than $110,000 a year in assistance. Harrington said an audit by the archdiocese also showed an undocumented worker was paid off the books, and that there was a separate account set up for the parish high school. He said the worker was an active parishioner who was given money for cleaning because she was "in need," and that a financial portfolio that had grown to close to a half-million dollars from donations and stocks and bonds was set aside for tuition assistance and was not intended to be touched by the diocese. "I fear for the future of the parish," Harrington said. "I would worry about the relationships between parishioners and priests which are going to be cut off." One parishioner, Maritsa Loaiza, called the reassignment an "injustice" and said the monsignor should be allowed to remain in the rectory, where he has been kept comfortable. "He gave his entire life to this community, and this is what he is getting right now?" Loaiza asked today. "We feel very sorry for Monsignor Harrington. We cannot believe that." Started in 1844, St. Mary’s predates the Newark Archdiocese. In recent years, the 900-member parish has had the most active ministry in Elizabeth, including running a soup kitchen and holding Narcotics Anonymous and Alcoholics Anonymous meetings. Goodness said the church would make sure Harrington, who has been with St. Mary’s since 1990, had a place to live and that his medical needs were addressed. "We’re not throwing anybody on the streets," Goodness said. Harrington, whose last day is Jan. 2, said he was being sent to an assisted-living facility in Mountainside. He said the three other priests, the Revs. Jack Martin, Pat Donohue and Esterminio Chica, also have been told to leave next month. Loaiza said some church members plan a rally in support of the four in the hope the archbishop reconsiders . She said parishioners also were upset over losing the 75-year-old Martin, known as "Father Jack, " who has remained active in various causes in the diverse community since he retired. Martin said he, too, was disturbed by the archbishop’s decision, and that the archdiocese "invented the idea that there’s financial mismanagement."
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