Whistleblower Targeted in Detroit

0
38
whistleblower-targeted-in-detroit

You are not signed in as a Premium user; we rely on Premium users to support our news reporting.
Sign in or Sign up today!


CLICK TO WATCH THE VIDEO

TRANSCRIPT

Faithful are speaking out after a whistleblower priest got railroaded. The archdiocese of Detroit removed Fr. Michael Suhy as pastor in November, claiming he was “overwhelmed by the responsibilities” at Our Lady of Good Counsel in Plymouth. But Suhy and his attorney Chris Kolomjec say there’s far more to the story than that.

Chris Kolomjec: “Fr. Suhy brought attention to it, and I think that’s what started the ball rolling.”

When a male archdiocesan employee was accused of grooming a young man in 2019, Fr. Suhy supported the accuser and his family. The archdiocese did an internal investigation, but the staffer accused of gay grooming went unpunished.

What’s now coming to light is how financial disputes about the parish school may have also contributed to Suhy’s removal.

Chris Kolomjec: “I also found out that there was an effort behind the scenes — prior to Fr. Suhy even being appointed as pastor — to sell the school for unknown reasons. The school actually increased in enrollment under Fr. Suhy.”

Some parents complained the school had “too much Jesus,” and a few wealthy parishioners wanted the parish to sell the school, claiming it cost too much to keep open.

Local faithful are supporting Fr. Suhy. Church Militant Resistance had a protest last month at St. Joan of Arc Catholic Church, the parish of Msgr. G. Michael Bugarin — a high-ranking official in the archdiocese who has been implicated in Suhy’s removal. Two people from the protest recently spoke to Church Militant.

Mark Hill: “We need to support those priests that are true to the Faith.”

Norman: “A priest or religious, you know, gets hurt, gets hurt by vicious people.”

Bugarin also helped remove faithful priest Fr. Eduard Perrone as pastor of Assumption Grotto with a dubious rape allegation in the summer of 2019.

Church Militant has reported archdiocesan officials — chiefly Bugarin — engaged in witness manipulation to drum up the charge against Perrone.

Local faithful say the treatment of Suhy is just the latest example of archdiocesan officials targeting good priests. Suhy now joins a long list of faithful U.S. clergy targeted by diocesan politics and left hanging in limbo.

Kristine Christlieb also contributed to this report.

— Campaign 32075 —

Have a news tip? Submit news to our tip line.




We rely on you to support our news reporting. Please donate today.

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here