Woman Now Claims Affair with Nun

United Press International
August 8, 1990

Atlanta - The young woman who said she had affairs with a Roman Catholic archbishop and two priests also claimed a sexual relationship with a nun in the mid-1980s, it was reported Wednesday.

The Atlanta Constitution, in a copyright article, said its sources were two people familiar with the account Vicki R. Long gave to church officials.

The newspaper said Long, 27, a single mother, claimed she worked with the nun at St. Francis Hospital in Columbus, Ga., and was seduced at the age of 19 during a weekend visit they made to Pittsburgh.

Pittsburgh is the home convent of the Franciscan Sisters of Millvale, which furnishes nuns to St. Francis Hospital. The constitution said repeated telephone calls to hospital spokesman R. Craig DuPriest and the administrator, Sister Patricia Garrigan, were not returned.

Long's lawyer, Anthony Fontana, also could not be reached for comment, the Constitution said.

The nun, who was tranferred from Columbus, was not identified.

Long is seeking financial compensation from the Catholic Church, claiming she was seduced by former Atlanta Archbishop Eugene A. Marino when she went to him for counseling. Marino, who was the highest ranking black in the church, resigned last month citing health reasons and revealed last week that he had been involved in a two-year romantic relationship with Long.

Last weekend, the Rev. Michael Woods, pastor of a suburban Atlanta Catholic church, also resigned, stating that he also had had an intimate relationship with the young woman.

Long filed a paternity suit in 1987 against the Rev. Donal Keohane of Columbus, claiming he fathered her daughter, LaDonna, 4. A blood test showed Keohane was not the father.

The Rev. Peter Dora, a spokesman for the Archdiocese of Atlanta, denied a television report that Long claimed Marino married her in New York.

''The archbishop denied the entire event -- said it never occurred,'' said Dora.

Kathleen Barber, a member of Long's church, said the woman appeared to believe her relationships with the priests were tantamount to marriage, the Constitution said.

She said Long wore a gold wedding ring and represented herself as married to the father of her child. She identified the father as ''Donal'' from Ireland, the newspaper said.

The Constitution said the relationship continued after Long moved from Columbus to Atlanta and the baby was born in May 1986.