Sex scandal allegations rock Episcopal Church - Episcopal Diocese of Long Island, New York

Christian Century, Dec 11, 1996

The Episcopal Diocese of Long Island has launched an independent investigation into the allegations published in the current issue of Penthouse magazine that priests in that diocese performed and participated in same-sex marriage ceremonies, used drugs, and engaged in homosexual orgies involving young men from Brazil. At least two priests, Lloyd Andries, rector of St. Gabriel's Episcopal Church in Brooklyn, and Howard Williams, a priest at the Episcopal Church Center, the denomination's headquarters in New York City, have resigned as a result of the allegations. On November 9 the diocese's annual convention set aside up to $100,000 to look into the charges.

In a letter shared with the denomination's Executive Council at its meeting in Toronto November 7-11 and then sent to all dioceses, Presiding Bishop Edmond L. Browning expressed his full support for the diocese's actions. If true, the allegations "are outrageous," Browning said. "I, along with persons of all faiths, deplore sexual exploitation and abuse of any kind." Browning noted that while his role in the affairs of a diocese is "largely a pastoral one," he has been in frequent contact with Bishop Orris Walker of Long Island and other lay and clergy leaders in the diocese and has "made a number of suggestions concerning appropriate diocesan response." According to Browning, Walker will ask Bishop O'Kelley Whitaker, retired bishop of Central New York, to oversee the investigation, and independent counsel will be retained.

In a resolution drafted in support of Browning's letter, the Executive Council affirmed the "reported actions taken thus far by the bishop, clergy and lay leadership of the Diocese of Long Island to investigate thoroughly and act in this matter, and assure them of our prayers and concerns." The council joined Browning in "deploring the recently reported incidents of sexual exploitation and abuse of sacred trust." The council also echoed Browning's condemnation of "any effort to use these allegations to inflame and polarize the ongoing difficult discussion within our church about the responsible, proper, and holy expression of sexuality," and affirmed "the continuation of healthy and responsible conversations addressing the complex issues of human sexuality."

Both Browning and the council underscored the need to "clearly differentiate between issues of sexual abuse and exploitation, and sexual orientation." The alleged actions in Long Island "are clearly outside acceptable parameters, and should not be confused with our ongoing struggles about sexuality," Browning said.

Since the allegations were made, Andries has resigned as rector of St. Gabriel's and is under discipline, Browning said in his letter. Browning also related that "members of our church have expressed sorrow that the term of a former member of our staff the Reverend Howard Williams, who has done much good work on our behalf, came to such an unfortunate conclusion when I asked for his resignation." While Williams, who had served as coordinator of children's ministries, was mentioned in the article as tangentially involved, the principal Brazilian source told Penthouse that he had no reason to believe Williams had any involvement with Andries's sexual activities. Nonetheless, "Howard and I agreed that, given the circumstances, his ministry had been so compromised that it was impossible for him to continue in his position?" Browning said.

Andries has since denied many of the allegations in the article and has declared his intention to sue Penthouse magazine for libel. Williams has admitted that he was present at St. Gabriel's rectory for a ceremony blessing the same-sex union between Andries and one of the two Brazilian men, but maintains that he neither participated in, nor had any knowledge of, group sex activities or drug use in the church or rectory.

In the Penthouse article, investigative reporter Rudy Maxa alleges that priests from the diocese engaged in sexual orgies at St. Gabriel's involving young men from Brazil and cross-dressing priests who model themselves after Marilyn Monroe and Madonna. He claims that an unidentified priest officiated at a marriage ceremony that united Andries with another man. Maxa's article centers on allegations made by a young Brazilian identified as Wasticlinio Barros, who is said to have lived at St. Gabriel's sporadically for 18 months in exchange for sexual favors with Andries. Maxa charged that Barros and other young men became "playthings for priests whose commitment to the scriptures had long ago been replaced by a pursuit of pleasure that would have fit nicely with Sodom and Gomorrah."

Factions in the church were quick to respond to the alleged scandal. Episcopalians United, a conservative group, distributed a comment via the Internet saying the scandal "is not only that these activities may have occurred, or even where they may have occurred. The deeper scandal is in Episcopal leaders who seriously propose that sexual intercourse between two men or two women is the moral equivalent of lovemaking by a married man and woman."