The Bishop, The Thief, His Sister & The Whistleblower, Part 1
Visions & Malfeasance in the Catholic Diocese of Rockville Centre
Usually being a poet with a theology degree and a penchant for connect-the-dots muckraking serves me well enough in my effort to chase down Catholic Church stories. For reasons that will be clear later in this piece, I already had my eye on Diocese of Rockville Centre when a March 15, 2021 report in the National Catholic Reporter (by Mark Nacinovich) caught my attention. This piece shined a light on a parish embroiled in financial strife, a priest ousted from his parish, a deacon on the precipice of laicization for inconvenient truth-telling, and so much more. It was obvious to me that this story is wider and deeper than a 1,500 – 1,700 word report can capture, and even with a couple of installments, I will merely scratch the surface of it. But this Diocese of Rockville Centre tale is the rare Catholic, “the fish rots from the head” story that makes me wish I actually were an investigative reporter. It involves a Babylon parish in the particularly clergy sex-abuse/ child rape coverup-slimed Diocese of Rockville Centre (in which worship about 1.4 million Catholics), a clergy sex abuse-tainted Opus Dei bishop, his notorious clergy sex abuse coverup culprit predecessor, a permanent deacon who is about to be laicized for trying to prevent his pastor from cleaning out his parish coffers entirely; and the fascinating but reckless compulsive spender/thief, Father Charles Mangano, a crooner cleric with montanist leanings who runs a mysterious non-profit, and enjoys minor celebrity status, and a fanatic Long Island-based fandom fervent enough in their devotion to him to resort to threatening St, Joseph parish whistleblowers with violence.
Mater Dei Music Ministry, Mejugorje, and Father Mangano’s Visions
Father Mangano and his former “runway model” sister Laurie Mangano appeared together for thirteen seasons of “God is Good,” a program on the religious television network Catholic Faith Network (formerly “Telecare”) and they run Mater Dei Music Ministry a non-profit organization through which the Father and Laurie Mangano sell their recordings. (Some call the duo “the Donny and Marie” of Long Island Catholics!) Claims that Mater Dei Music Ministry makes donations to a number of charitable organizations are noted on the site; however, information on the website is not dated, no specifics relative to charitable giving are provided, and neither annual reports, nor any information regarding boards of directors or advisors appear on the Mater Dei Music Ministry website. Furthermore, I was unable to find any information at all about Mater Dei Music Ministry on such sites as Guidestar and Charity Navigator.
I found it is interesting to see that Mater Dei Music Ministry offers a “Medjugorje Music” link. (The pilgrimages and purported Marian apparitions in Medjugorje, which is located in Bosnia-Herzegovina, are subjects of controversy in the Catholic Church.)
But it was on an August 15, 1984 trip to Medjugorje that Father Charles Mangano heard the call to priesthood. through a vision:
I just knew it was the presence of Our Lady speaking to me and this is what I heard, “Charles, stop all your running. Stop being so anxious and let me prove your vocation to you.” And then suddenly I received this image of a bathtub filled with dirty bath water. And somebody’s hand went through the water, pulled out the rubber stopper and the water was going down the drain very quickly. And when the last bit of water went down the drain I heard the sucking sound and the second that last bit of water went down the drain every fear, anxiety, worry, question that I had, that I had been carrying for months and months, a burden was lifted off my shoulders.
Mangano received the call to ordination in 1984, was ordained in 1990, and in 2004, he began to serve as pastor at the Parish of Curé of Ars, in Merrick in 2004. Twelve years later, Mangano was transferred to the Parish of St. Joseph in Babylon, New York. In 2016 Bishop Francis Murphy, Bernard Law’s second in command in Boston, and alleged cover up perpetrator in Rockville Centre, appointed Charles Mangano to serve as pastor of St. Joseph Parish in Babylon, New York. One Rockville Centre Catholic claims, regarding Mangano as celebrity, that “Bishop Murphy made him!”
“Expensive Projects”
Shortly after arriving at the parish, according to a report in National Catholic Reporter, Mangano began to undertake “expensive projects.” (Francis Murphy was notorious for this.) By October of 2016, just a few months following Mangano’s appointment, concerned parishioners had begun to complain to the diocese. In January of 2017, when it became clear that in his first eight months at the parish Mangano had spent $347,00 without obtaining appropriate authorization from the diocese, some parishioners mounted a more concerted campaign to rein Mangano in. This happened to coincide (approximately) with the appointment of Bishop John O. Barres to succeed Murphy as the leader of the Diocese of Rockville Centre.
On June 3, 2017, Stephen Yusko was ordained a permanent deacon, and was appointed to serve at St. Joseph, under Mangano and their ordinary, Bishop Barres. Deacon Yusko was appointed to serve at St. Joseph, the parish in which he had worshipped before preparing for the diaconate. In February of 2019, Yusko received a decree of suspension from his bishop. For whistleblowing.
Between (approximately) the fall of 2016 and 2018, desperate parishioners sought redress from their diocese and felt unheard by their relatively new bishop. They began to post concerns on a “Save St. Joseph” blog/website. Its content is staggering.* It details firings of longtime employees, an exodus of parishioners who couldn’t tolerate Mangano, details relating to Mangano’s lavish spending on jewel-encrusted vestments and accoutrements, and non-essential alterations of the church exterior deemed necessary by the pastor for reasons aesthetic. One person posting on “Save St. Joseph” site points to a February 2017 Curé of Ars weekly bulletin in which one of Mangano’s brother priests blames him for leaving his former parish, Curé of Ars, with a $900,000 deficit and no reserve funds.
Those posting on the “Save Saint Joseph” blog/website* accused Mangano of closing “all the parish corporate bank accounts at Chase Bank and opened new accounts at First National Bank of Long Island where he is the sole authorized signatory” and of disregarding procedures set forth by parish by-laws which require “another officer or trustee” to be present with the pastor when he is opening or closing accounts. Other comments refer to Mangano’s characterizations of members of the Parish of St. Joseph who had complained about Mangano’s profligate spending as “weeds” that “need to be gotten rid of.”
A Pastor’s “Resignation,” His Non-Mea Culpa, and His Vision
According to National Catholic Reporter, an (internal) investigation of Father Mangano’s expenditures revealed no wrongdoing. Yet despite being cleared by Msgr. Richard Henning, the the vicar (who soon after became an auxiliary bishop), Mangano resigned or was invited to resign from his post as pastor at the Parish of St, Joseph. Read Mangano’s farewell to his parishioners, which appeared in St. Joseph’s weekly bulletin:
Mangano makes clear in the post that his erstwhile parishioners know that he was neither fired nor laicized. (Based on what I have read, it would seem that Mangano is the only person involved who is pushing the idea that his departure was voluntary. As is the case with so much that gets decided under the veil of clericalism, here’s no way to know the truth about this. The decision would have fallen to the bishop, who would never tell.) As he bids his former flock adieu, Mangano offers them his prayers, professes his love, and shares with the people of his former parish what led him to choose to step away from his position. A conversation with his ordinary (Bishop Barres) influenced his decision to “consider stepping away from the administrative responsibilities of the parish.” However, it was not that tête-à-tête with his ordinary alone which led Mangano to decide.
Mangano also had a vision, which he shares with his former parishioners as an addendum to his post in the parish bulletin:
The former pastor of St. Joseph Roman Catholic Church did not merely cite the familiar “need to spend more time with family” as cause for “stepping away.” In the course of his discernment Mangano’s experienced a vision. During that conference with Bishop Barres, Mangano beheld an elaborate apparition. Translucent angels appeared, surrounded the whole room, and trained all of their eyes upon him. An “inner voice” gave Mangano his instructions. “Would you give me one year off so I can take care of my parents? Father Mangano asked. And “the Bishop generously approved it.”
*Content on “Save St. Joseph’s” is no longer available to the public, but I have been able to access it.
MMS
Brooklyn, NY
April 1, 2021
Read Part 1, The Bishop, The Thief, His Sister and The Whistleblower
Read Part 2, The Bishop, The Thief, His Sister and The Whistleblower
Read Part 3, The Bishop, The Thief, His Sister and The Whistleblower
Read Part 4, The Bishop, The Thief, His Sister and The Whistleblower