Priest tells of Foley relationship (Foley abuser named)

[Subdivisions]

http://www.heraldtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061019/NEWS/610190725

A Catholic priest told the Herald-Tribune on Wednesday about an intimate two-year relationship he had with former U.S. Rep. Mark Foley when the congressman was a teenage altar boy living in Lake Worth.

From his home on the island of Gozo, near Italy, Anthony Mercieca described a series of encounters that he said Foley might perceive as sexually inappropriate.

Among them: massaging Foley while the boy was naked, skinny-dipping together at a secluded lake in Lake Worth and being naked in the same room on overnight trips.

One night, when Mercieca says he was in a drug-induced stupor, there was an incident he says he can't clearly remember that might have gone too far.

"I have to confess, I was going through a nervous breakdown," he said. "I was taking pills -- tranquilizers. I used to take them all the time. They affected my mind a little bit."

[Eurobabe]

1. Hey, I'm going to Gozo on Saturday!

I'll look that priest up and give him a piece of my mind.

[Somawas]

2. It amazes me that Delay, Rove and Co. have not told Foley to

STFU and disappear. I mean, this turkey has a new excuse and a new headline grabber every day. Is Foley trying to bring down the R's singlehandedly, or is Diebold ready to steal as many votes as they need plus one?

[DoYouEverWonder]

3. I wonder how much this guy is getting paid

to be Foley's stooge?

[hippiechick]

6. OMG that was my first thought too!!

Safely in Italy and all ... what's going to be done about him if he is really a perv? NOTHING


Oh and how coincidental that Foley was just OUT OF THE COUNTRY. Looking for a bribe-able priest, maybe?

[magellan]

7. My thought too

When in the past has a priest ever willingly offered up such sordid information simply on the basis of being accused?

[BleedingHeartPatriot]

4. So, Foley reported this priest to diocese when? As a congressman, he'd

have some clout.

Oh, that's right, didn't bother till he thought it would provide an "excuse".

:mad: MKJ

[DoYouEverWonder]

5. Well there really is a Rev. Fr. Tony Mercieca

And it appears he's still in the priesthood. Here's a referrence to him and his work.

On the insistence of Rev. Fr. Tony Mercieca, a priest doing pastoral work in Miami, USA, the then Archpriest of the Gozo Cathedral parish Mgr. Carmelo Scicluna collected hundreds of other books from several parishioners and added them to the books donated by Mgr. Cauchi. Thus the library started to build up gradually with the acquisition of about two thousand books per year. Needless to say, the Most Reverend Chapter of the Gozo Cathedral approved this initiative and gave its wholehearted blessing to this worthy cause.
Another factor that affected this decision was the resolution taken by the Gozo Pastoral Congress held in 1975 that stated: “In every parish a library be established, furnished with interesting books and other publications with which all parishioners, especially youths can enhance their culture”


The main benefactor of the library is Rev. Fr. Anthony Mercieca of Florida, USA. During the past 23 years he sent many thousands of books on all subjects under the sun. A fair estimate would be that Fr. Tony has donated about 70% of all the 103,000 books that the library possesses at the moment of writing this article. When the University Gozo Centre opened its doors in our island, an urgent message was mailed to Father Tony to concentrate on sending tertiary academic books. Fr Tony complied beyond our expectation.

http://64.233.187.104/search?q=cache:APqyqOGLqx8J:www.gozo.com/ugc/media/gozo_observer10.pdf+%22Anthony+Mercieca%22+priest&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=1&client=firefox-a

[Iris]

8. We should accept this as the cause for Foley's behavior, but a woman with

post-partum psychosis is to be treated like just a criminal, plain and simple?

[Gabi Hayes]

9. I saw the CNN segment: priest admitted to NAKED BACK MASSAGES!

take it from there

not that there's anything wrong with it

[npincus]

10. WOW- I haven't seen this in the MSM (cable) yet...

[wicket]

11. kick

:kick:

[seabeyond]

12. naked massages, skinny dipping, naked overnight sleepers NOT

over the line?

[malaise]

13. WTF does this have to do with anything

other than diversion. Has any pedophile been allowed to use his past in court let alone the court of public opinion. Fugg FOley.

[seabeyond]

14. i was speaking to the issue of op that had the priest speaking

that is wtf it has to do with anything. does this mean foley is not responsible for his action four decades later. of course foley is responsible. this ability to multi task is not a toughie

[malaise]

18. Sorry I was responding generally to

the OP not attacking your post. My bad. :D

[seabeyond]

24. my bad for making assumption? lol. ok thanks for clarification

i appreciate. kept looking at your name as i typed thinking i dont ever type post in hostility or disagreement with you.... loll lol.

[malaise]

27. LOL n/t

[Ino]

15. One thing I like about "To Catch a Predator"

is the excuses they come up with... the same ones over and over. So here we have a priest-predator who was drugged up, and a congresscritter-predator who was liquored up. So glad we got that straightened out. But why is Foley fingering the priest? Obviously the poor old guy wasn't responsible.

[Cha]

25. Logic Alert!

Maybe foley didn't think that one through, Either!

[Saphire]

16. and now the priest blames drugs.... I guess it's all NOBODYS fault.

[helderheid]

17. "I'm a drug addict - that's why it happened!"

[Avalux]

19. I hope Foley doesn't get a pass because of this confession.

If true, I am sorry Foley went through this as a young man. However, that does NOT give him the excuse to do the same as an adult. He's still responsible for his own actions and knows what's appropriate and what isn't.

[EFerrari]

22. He better. God knows how much it cost him.

I don't believe a word of it, to tell you the truth.

When was the last time you saw a confession like this come out without Vatican handling?

[Avalux]

23. Excellent point - unless this 'priest' is no longer under Vatican control.

It sure does seem mightly convenient just one day after Foley names his priest, we get a confession. No way the Vatican would allow such a thing to happen.

[Cha]

26. Right! That's the republican way.

Do the crime do the time.

[Nikki Stone 1]

20. Can this priest be extradited?

This smells very fishy to me. Pick a priest that can't be prosecuted...

[cwydro]

21. my favorite quote

in the article I read was "I still remember our trips together fondly." And the other quote, "Let bygones be bygones." Geez, the sleaze.