By The TimesLedger
The thousands of Roman Catholics living in Queens have been stung both by revelations that numbers of priests throughout America have admitted to abusing young boys and the revelation that church officials may have known about the abuse for decades and did nothing. In the wake of this, one might expect that the church would encourage parishioners to expose priests who may be involved in any form of abuse.
Sadly that is not the case. We reported last week that Barbara Samide, the former principal of St. Elizabeth’s Roman Catholic Church in Ozone Park, was put on unpaid leave after she reported that the pastor of St. Elizabeth’s had allegedly stolen as much as $300,000 from church funds that he used for himself and his gay lover. She claims the priest even took money from the school candy fund.
Samide accused the priest of physically abusing her and she asked for a paid leave because of the stress. The diocese responded by putting her on unpaid leave. In essence, the new pastor at the church told the whistle-blower to hit the road. And then he had the chutzpah to pretend that he was doing it for her own good.
On the back of her pink slip, Rev. Steven Ferrari writes, “Suffice it to say that, according to the doctor’s diagnosis and recommendations, the granting of her requested leave is in Mrs. Samide’s best interests and for her emotional well-being.”
Apparently he thinks not getting a paycheck will be good for Samide’s emotional well-being.
Attempting to justify the inexcusable, Frank DeRosa, spokesman for the Diocese of Brooklyn, explained that it is general policy in the teacher’s and principal’s handbook to not grant pay for leaves of absence. He said the church’s priority is maintaining school schedules and educating the students.
How do these guys sleep at night? The only real question is: Did the former pastor steal from school tuition funds and candy sale money to pay for an affair with a not-so-secret lover? If this happened, then Samide has done a public service. If it is also true that this woman was abused as well, then the diocese should be doing everything possible to help her even if that means allowing her to go on paid leave.
Editorial: You can’t get there from here?
We’re guessing that it will come as no surprise to New York City commuters that the signs in the subway system leave a great deal to be desired. A survey by the New York City Transit Riders Council claims hundreds of the signs that tell straphangers where to go in the city’s hundreds of stations are inadequate, incomplete, misleading or missing.
How bad is it? According to the survey, in Queens 88 percent of the signs intended to help riders find their way underground are either missing or at best inadequate. The problem is especially acute in the underground passageways linking one train line to another.
According to the survey, 26 percent of the colored globes that are supposed to tell people walking down the street if an entrance is open are missing. What commuter hasn’t experienced the frustration of walking down a flight of stairs only to find that the gate is closed?
In another example, the 75th Avenue station has a sign showing that E and F trains stop there, but it fails to mention that the E is available only nights and weekends. You can’t get there from here if you are counting on taking the E train, not during the day.
Fortunately, this is not a problem that will cost millions to fix. We hope the Transit Authority will take the findings of this survey seriously.
