NATION

National Catholic Reporter, Dec 22, 2000 by Teresa Malcolm, Patricia Lefevere

Arizona priest faces charges of molestation

A Tucson, Ariz., diocesan priest is scheduled to appear in court in Yuma Country Jan. 8 to face a criminal complaint accusing him of molesting three boys in the early 1970s.

Msgr. Robert C. Trupia faces seven felony counts for alleged child molestation involving three boys, ages 12 and 13, in Yuma between April 1972 and December 1974. Trupia served at St. Francis of Assisi Parish in Yuma from 1972 to 1976.

According to Yuma police, who filed the complaint against the priest, the victims only recently came forward.

Trupia was an official in the Tucson diocesan tribunal from 1976 to 1990, when his faculties were suspended and he was placed on nonactive ministry status.

Diocesan spokesman Fred Allison said Trupia is the first priest of the Tucson diocese to face criminal charges alleging child molestation.

In January of this year, Trupia was named in several civil lawsuits filed in Pima County alleging he molested children during the 1970s. The suit allege child molestation by four priests in the 1970s and 1980s. Trupia is named in four of those suits. One of the priests has been on non-active status since 1990 and two are deceased.

Same-sex unions allowed in university chapel

Duke University has decided to allow same-sex unions in its chapel, even though its historic church sponsor, the United Methodist church, officially prohibits such ceremonies.

The decision by Duke President Nannerl O. Keohane and the chapel dean, the Rev. William H. Willimon, comes after three months of discussion on the Durham, N.C., campus between the chapel, administration and campus religious groups.

Keohane and Willimon noted that the chapel is university property and does not belong to the United Methodist church.

"It is not, in our opinion, a matter of the chapel approving or disapproving of this liturgical innovation, but rather a question of how much religious diversity we should accomodate," Keohane and Willimon wrote in a letter.

The university noted that while Methodists do not condone such ceremonies, other campus faith groups -- notably the United Church of Christ and Unitarian Universalists -- do allow same-sex unions, and both groups use the campus chapel.

Clergy who do not agree with same-sex unions will not required to officiate.

Couple sues when zoning forbirds prayer meeting

A Connecticut Catholic couple has sued the zoning commission in the town of New Milford for prohibiting them from holding prayer meetings in their home.

The American Center for Law and Justice, a law firm founded by religious broadcaster Pat Robertson, filed suit Dec. 1 on behalf of Robert and Mary Murphy, who have held weekly prayer meetings and Bible studies in their home since 1995. As many as 25 people attend the gatherings, they said.

After receiving complaints about traffic from the Murphys' neighbors, New Milford's Zoning Enforcement Officer Kathy Castagnetta sent a Nov. 29 letter to the couple informing them that the meetings and "the use of a rear yard as a parking lot for attendees of these meetings" were not permitted at single-family residences in the town. She ordered them to halt the activities and said if they did not, she would take legal action.

The Murphys sued, stating their constitutional rights of free speech, peaceable assembly, privacy and free exercise of religion have been violated. In response to the letter, the suit states that they have "no intention to use their rear lot as a parking lot."

Rockville Centre Bishop McHugh dies of cancer

Bishop James T. McHugh, who headed the Rockville Centre, N.Y., diocese since early January, died of cancer Dec. 10. He was 68.

A leader in the U.S. bishops' antiabortion efforts, McHugh also had represented the Vatican at international meetings on population and pro-life matters and at the United Nations.

His funeral Mass was scheduled for Dec. 15 at St. Agnes Cathedral in Rockville Center, with Cardinal Bernard F. Law of Boston as the chief celebrant and homilist.

McHugh was diagnosed with cancer in August 1999.

McHugh was most recently in the national news during the 2000 political campaign when he ordered that no public officials or candidates who support keeping abortion legal be permitted to appear at Catholic parishes. The directive led to the cancellation of 19 candidate forums in the diocese.

Clinton delays federal execution

On Dec. 7, President Clinton announced that the execution of Juan Raul Garza would be delayed for six months. Garza's execution in 37 years.

Garza, 44, was to have been executed at the federal penitentiary in Terre Haute, Ind. Churches, the federal prison and activists in the area had been preparing everything from prayer vigils to shuttle bus service in anticipation of crowds both opposing and supporting the execution.

In his announcement, Clinton said although he believes the death penalty is appropriate for some crimes, he thinks the Justice Department needs more time to analyze information about racial and geographic disparities in the federal death penalty system. He asked the Justice Department to report to the next president by April with an analysis of racial and geographic disparities in how the federal death penalty is applied.