Bridgeport, Conn., Aug 4, 2009 / 17:42 pm
Reports that an accountant and a priest at a Catholic parish in Connecticut were mistreated and threatened by the Diocese of Bridgeport are being rejected by the diocese as “inaccurate” and “untrue.”
Headlines about a lawsuit related to the fallout from a financial scandal in the diocese read, “Conn. priest: Bishop wanted to send me to the nuns” and “Whistleblower priest claims bishop threatened him.” The priest in question, Fr. Michael Madden, was serving alongside Fr. Jude Fay, who was later found guilty of embezzling $1 million from the parish.
When contacted by CNA, the diocese said that the “statements by Father Madden regarding his conversation with Bishop William Lori are untrue.”
The media coverage is the result of a lawsuit filed against the Diocese of Bridgeport by the bookkeeper of St. John's Catholic Parish in Darien, Conn.