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	2nd Priest Leaves Post at Hospital Here Disclosure of Allegation against Chaplain Comes Amid Review Ordered by Rigali By Phyllis Brasch Librach St. Louis Post-Dispatch May 1, 2002 For the second time in eight days, a Catholic priest ordained in Joliet, Ill., has left his position as chaplain at an area hospital after the Archdiocese of St. Louis disclosed a history of alleged sexual abuse with a minor. On Tuesday, the archdiocese announced that the Rev. Jay Anthony Meis, 65, has "resigned and retired" from St. Anthony's Medical Center in south St. Louis County, effective last Wednesday. Meis' resignation came amid a review that St. Louis Archbishop Justin Rigali ordered in March of all priests from other dioceses who are serving in St. Louis and the 10 Missouri counties that make up the Archdiocese of St. Louis, said Jim Orso, a spokesman for the Archdiocese of St. Louis. Orso works for Fleishman-Hillard, the St. Louis-based public relations firm that has volunteered to handle media inquires for the Catholic church here. There are about 10 priests from other dioceses who now work in medical centers, nursing homes and prisons served by the Archdiocese of St. Louis, Orso said. He said the review has just begun. "It's relatively early in the process," Orso said. The first chaplain to be removed from his work in the Archdiocese of St. Louis was the Rev. Fred A. Lenczycki, 57. On April 23, one day before Meis resigned, Lenczycki was recalled to Joliet, Ill., from his post as chaplain at DePaul Health Center in Bridgeton. The Archdiocese of St. Louis took the action after saying it had learned of allegations that Lenczycki had sexually abused a minor in the 1980s when he was a priest in the Diocese of Joliet, based 40 miles southwest of Chicago. Administrators at St. Anthony's Medical Center said that when they hired Meis in 1994, they were aware that he had been accused of sexually abusing a minor. "At that time, the Bishop of Joliet informed hospital management that Father Meis had completed treatment for sexual abuse of a minor and gave his assurance that there would be no risk for Father Meis to serve in a hospital ministry," said David P. Seifert, president and chief executive officer of St. Anthony's Medical Center. "Now the church is changing their position on priests who suffer from this problem," Seifert said. Orso said Tuesday that the archdiocese here "recently received information" from the Diocese of Joliet alleging Meis had sexually abused a minor in the late 1980s when he was pastor at St. Mary and Joseph Parish in Chebanse, Ill., about 50 miles south of Chicago. Did the church here know when Meis was hired of the allegations he faced in Illinois? Orso says no. "The archdiocese has in its file a letter from the bishop of Joliet that Father Meis was a priest in good standing and there was nothing known that would impede his ministry," Orso said. In a statement issued Tuesday, the Diocese of Joliet said a settlement had been reached with the minor that Meis allegedly abused at the church in Chebanse, a tiny town of 1,000 or so residents. "There have been no other allegations of sexual abuse against Father Meis," the statement said. Bishop Joseph Imesch of the Joliet diocese was unavailable late Tuesday for further comment. Meis gave officials at St. Anthony's Medical Center no explanation when he suddenly resigned last week. "He just called and delivered the message he wasn't coming back," Seifert said. "There was no time to say goodbye." Orso said it took a week to make public Meis' resignation public because the Archdiocese of St. Louis needed time to coordinate with the medical center and the Diocese of Joliet. He said officials in both St. Louis and Joliet acted on the same day last week to prohibit Meis from administering the Catholic sacraments. During his eight years at the hospital, Meis never worked with children or adolescents, Seifert said. Meis was unavailable for comment late Tuesday. Church officials said he was at an undisclosed location, and that he had changed his phone number to unlisted at his home in Pacific. Neighbors said Meis kept to himself, staying behind the pink front door and the red fence at his house.
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