This Associated Press article originally ran June 25, 2009 in The Philadelphia Inquirer, The Courier Post of Cherry Hill, and The Daily Record.
NEWARK, N.J. - Political powerbrokers and parishioners are pressing the leader of northern New Jersey's Roman Catholics to let an elderly priest stay in the church he's led the past 54 years.
More than 150 people gathered Wednesday to pray for Newark Archbishop John Myers to reverse his decision removing Pastor Joseph Granato from St. Lucy's Church after his July 1 retirement. The 80-year-old priest wants to remain involved with the church and to continue to live in its rectory in the Italian-American neighborhood where he was raised.
The 76-year-old Adubato is also the founder of the politically influential North Ward Center, a nonprofit that operates a charter school, five preschools, youth athletic leagues and an adult day care center in Newark.
Archdiocese spokesman James Goodness said priests have not been allowed to serve more than two consecutive six-year terms in the same parish for decades now and must retire at 75. Myers gave Granato a retirement waiver five years ago.
"Change is always difficult," Goodness said, noting that Myers will not comment on the dispute.
Numerous politicians have asked the archbishop to make an exception for Granato, including Essex County Executive Joseph DiVincenzo and Newark municipal council members Anibal Ramos Jr. and Luis Quintana. Goodness said Granato is expected to live in a home he owns in the neighborhood until an apartment becomes available at a rectory in Caldwell, 12 miles away.
More than 600 people attended a June 12 march in support of the pastor and a larger turnout is expected Sunday.
Officially, the dispute between Myers and influential members of northern New Jersey's Italian-American community is about Granato, who held the congregation together though the riots that convulsed New Jersey's largest city in the 1960s and the rampant crime that followed. But DiVincenzo says the real issue is loyalty.
The archdiocese has never been shy about asking prominent congregation members for help, DiVincenzo said, whether it's assistance with closing Catholic hospitals or funding a new statue. They expect their loyalty to be returned, he said.
"This guy is from Illinois , he wasn't born and raised here and he doesn't understand this community," DiVincenzo said of Myers. "He's alienating parishioners that have been supporting the archdiocese for decades."
DiVincenzo, whose children were baptized at St. Lucy's, said Myers assured him as recently as April that Granato would be allowed to remain in the parish. Goodness said Myers changed his mind in May after parishioners threatened Granato's successor.
Granato, who declined comment, is only the third pastor in St. Lucy's 118-year history.
David Gibson, author of "The Coming Catholic Church," said conflicts between congregations and their ruling diocese are becoming more common as Roman Catholic leaders close churches, schools and hospitals and elevate the power of diocese managers. The pastor of a St. Louis church was stripped of his priesthood earlier this year and a handful of lay church leaders were excommunicated in a similar dispute.
"This is an administrative thing more than an issue of church doctrine," Gibson said. "In the old days the bishop could not dynamite out a pastor , you were a pastor for life."
Myers has developed a reputation as an efficient manager since assuming leadership of New Jersey's pre-eminent diocese in 2001. The Newark Archdiocese serves 1.4 million parishioners in 226 churches. It's also home to Seton Hall University.
Goodness said Granato could have remained at St. Lucy's after his retirement with his successor's permission, if parishioners had not tried to force the issue by threatening the new priest.
"This was rough stuff," Goodness said of the threats.
