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	Archdiocese Confirms Alleged Sexual Misconduct in Priest Resignation By Angelo Bruscas Seattle Post-Intelligencer [Seattle WA] March 21, 2006 http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/263899_priest21ww.html A standing-room crowd of more than 700 parishioners at Holy Rosary Catholic Church in West Seattle met for two hours Tuesday night with members of the Archdiocese of Seattle but got few answers about the abrupt resignation earlier this month of the church's longtime pastor, the Rev. Jeffrey Sarkies. Many members of the congregation heard confirmation for the first time that Sarkies' alleged ethics violations did involve an allegation of sexual misconduct, but few details were provided. Archbishop Alex Brunett was out of town and not in attendance, but the archdiocese informed church members Sunday in a statement included in the Sunday bulletin that the alleged violations were "in the areas of sexual misconduct and harassment." Representatives of the archdiocese said the allegation came to light shortly after Christmas, and Sarkies, 67, who has been pastor of Holy Rosary since 1992 and attended Holy Rosary School as a child, was then informed an investigation would be conducted. The investigation took about a month and Sarkies resigned after being told the results. "I have sadly determined that there is substantial and convincing evidence that the allegation is true," Brunett said in a March 11 statement that did not mention sexual misconduct, only an ethics violation. "I would like to emphasize that the allegation did not involve minors." After the resignation became public March 11, Sarkies told the Seattle P-I he had not resigned over sexual misconduct or controversial statements that he has made urging church communities to be more inclusive of homosexuals. Holy Rosary has about 4,300 members and Sarkies was well-liked by parishioners and students in the adjoining Catholic school. He also is a former editor of the Seattle Catholic newspaper, The Catholic Northwest Progress. Sarkies has been sanctioned by the archdiocese, which is limiting what he can say about the incident, and parishioners were told he also was prevented from saying goodbye to children at the school, where he was a popular fixture. Archdiocese spokesman Greg Magnoni stressed the investigation found "no laws were broken" and that the alleged sexual misconduct was with an adult. There was no evidence of child sexual abuse, he said. Also on Tuesday, Sarkies filed a letter with Brunett's office saying he intends to appeal the process under which the investigation took place, even though he has not moved to withdraw what the archdiocese is characterizing as a voluntary resignation. The appeal could eventually go all the way to the Vatican. Sarkies will continue to get his full compensation package, which offers a $1,600 a month pension and a full health benefits package. Parishioners were told, however, that he is sanctioned from certain contact with members of the church, and that all communication with Sarkies should go through the Vicar of Clergy's office. Magnoni said it was too early to talk about a replacement pastor. "There certainly will be a replacement and a new pastor placed at Holy Rosary," he said, "but I can't say when that will be." "It was an issue of professional misconduct," Magnoni said. "Because it is related to a personnel policy that we have, we followed our policy, and after an investigation accepted Father Sarkies' resignation."
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