Priest: " Pray for Father Carey"

By Paul Petrone
The Patch
July 1, 2012

http://waterford.patch.com/articles/priest-prey-for-father-dennis


With Child Pornography Investigation Ongoing, Church Encourages Parishioners To Pray For Their Former Priest

With the heavy cloud of a state police investigation into child pornography laying overhead, today fill-in Rev. Joseph Whittel encouraged parishioners of St. Paul in Chains Rectory to pray for Rev. Dennis Carey, who resigned Thursday.

According to WFSB, state police seized a computer from the church on Thursday as part of a child pornography investigation. In a letter to parishioners, Most Reverend Bishop of Norwich Michael Cote said Carey, St. Paul's head priest, resigned immediately following the state police action.

Sunday, mass was held at the Waterford church, with Whittel saying he would serve as priest of the church for the time being. Whittel read a letter by Cote, and encouraged parishioners to pray for Casey.

The Mass

Whittel began his mass by reading a letter by Cote. In it, Cote said the investigation was "a sad moment for all of us," and said, "naturally, we all presume that Father Carey is not guilty of any wrongdoing and will continue to keep him in our thoughts and prayers."

Cote said Carey resigned to "focus his energies on addressing any issues associated with the investigation." He followed that by saying that while people may let us down, Jesus does not.

"During moments like these, there are times that we find our faith is shaken," Cote said. "We feel betrayed."

"When that happens, we always need to remember where our faith lies," Cote continued. "Our faith lies in Our Lord Jesus Christ, not in any other human being."

After reading the letter, Whittel, who is from Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church in Quaker Hill, said he knew little about the investigation. He said he would be there for the parishioners, and they should call him if they have any issues.

Whittel added that he knew Carey for many years, and asked parishioners to pray for him. He asked parishioners to pray that Carey will be protected and safe, and reminded people that he is human.

Whittel said police would continue to do their investigation, and the church would work with that. He added that he is presuming that Carey is innocent.

So far, no arrests have been made as part of the state police investigation.