Opus Bono Sacerdotii
Work for the Good of the Priesthood Finding solutions to the problems confronting priests.
Make a Donation to Opus Bono

Priest’s removal re-opens wounds in Greenville

Dec. 05, 2004


The Rev. John Zickert (center) says grace before eating dinner at the Greenville home of Mike and Lynn Reese. Zickert has been invited to dinner by numerous families of St. Mary Catholic Church since being asked to resign in July. Post-Crescent photo by Sharon Cekada

 

To view the bishop's letter that was sent to parishioners, click here(pdf) (more)

To view the police report on allegation of computer pornography, click here(pdf) (more)

 

By Cheryl Sherry
Post-Crescent staff writer

GREENVILLE — Like other parish communities in the Fox Valley, St. Mary Catholic Church is a place of faith.

Parishioners are fiercely loyal to their beliefs and their church.

But, for some at St. Mary’s, the events of the past few months have tested that faith to its core. And, in their wake, a public light has been shed on the divisions that sometimes exist deep within faith communities.

The Rev. John Zickert’s forced resignation as pastor in July set off a series of accusations and public grumbling that has torn St. Mary’s apart and re-opened wounds that date back more than two decades.

The resignation, which came at the request of the Catholic Diocese of Green Bay, continues to fuel discontent and finger pointing within the congregation.

“The lack of professionalism shown by the diocese here is a disgrace,” said Anne Thielen, who left the parish because of Zickert’s departure. “The damage to our youth, the future of our church, is inexcusable. The hell they have made for Father John, incomprehensible.”

The 62-year-old capuchin priest was asked to resign his seven-year pastorate by Bishop David Zubik in conjunction with the Very Rev. Daniel Anholzer, major superior of the Capuchin Province of St. Joseph in Detroit. Zubik publicly has said there were no financial, moral or sexual improprieties surrounding the dismissal but declined to elaborate, calling it a personnel matter that would remain private.

“All I can say is what the community and I said publicly, that there are issues that needed to be addressed and they were not issues that could be addressed while he was pastor,” said Zubik, who is confident St. Mary’s is on the road to healing.

So why was Zickert forced out? Was he a victim of heightened sensitivities over the fallout from the clergy sexual abuse scandals? Did he fall victim to strong personalities within the parish who wanted the church run their way? Was he on the losing end of a personality conflict? Did Zickert butt heads with an ultra-conservative movement slowly gathering steam?

Therein lies the debate, finger pointing and fuzzy answers that have angered many in the congregation.

A cantankerous parting

There is even disagreement over who made the decision to ask Zickert for his resignation. Zubik says the diocese did so in partnership with Zickert’s capuchin superiors.

But Brother Bob Smith, vicar provincial with the Diocese of Milwaukee and a capuchin with St. Francis Province, said in the end it was Zubik’s call.

“If the bishop decided for whatever reason that he did not want (Zickert) to minister there, he has the power to say, ‘You no longer can serve here.’”

Zickert contends that his resignation was forced by the diocese and was based on the presumption that he, in his own words, “might in the future possibly do something wrong.” That assessment was based on diocese-ordered psychological evaluations done in May at St. Michaels, a St. Louis, Mo., center that treats priests and brothers who suffer from alcoholism, depression and other disorders.

Zubik has removed Zickert’s pastoral faculties in the diocese. Zickert says he has been ordered by the capuchins to stop meeting with friends and former parishioners of St. Mary’s and to report to Milwau-kee. He said he applied for a leave of absence, which was denied and now is under appeal.

Zickert has taken a job with an area construction company.

“I have been here (in the Fox Valley) for 22 years. This is where my family is. This is where my friends are and they have been so supportive ... I don’t think I could make it without them.

“They have already taken away the love of my life (ministry) and now want me to go to Milwaukee where I know no one. I just can’t imagine surviving.”

Zickert’s case reflects injustice happening in dioceses across the United States, said Joe Maher, founder of Opus Bono Sacerdotii (Latin for “Work for the Good of the Priesthood”). The organization is one of many groups of Catholic laity and clergy that sprang up to defend the rights of priests in response to the zero tolerance policy adopted in 2002 by United States Conference of Catholic Bishops to combat the scandal over clergy sex abuse stemming from Boston.

“A priest is guilty until proven guiltier,” Maher said. “And it doesn’t matter if it is a false accusation or if there was some kind of inappropriate behavior. The bishops want the priests to go away because of the issue of liability.”

Zubik, meanwhile, said Zickert’s resignation was for his own good. “There were issues that needed to be addressed in his life and in the parish,” the bishop said. “I also stand by the responsibility that I bear, making sure that we stand by the protection of children, young people and the vulnerable. And that is an important part of the consideration.”

Removal unexpected

Many St. Mary’s parishioners were shocked by the July 25 announcement that Zickert had submitted his resignation. The news was delivered by the Rev. Al Veik, a Franciscan capuchin and director of the Milwaukee Archdiocesan Office for Consecrated Life.

“Mass was, we thought, over,” parish member Greg Stock recalled of the day. “(Veik) got up and walked to the front of the church. He gets up and reads the letter from the Green Bay Diocese saying Father was going to resign and his last day was Aug. 9. There was dead silence.”

“My only response was to cry,” said Stock’s wife, Victoria. “I couldn’t believe it.” The Stocks have since left the church.

In the letter read by Veik, Zubik attributed his decision to differences within the congregation over Zickert’s pastorate. “As a result, it is my judgment that new leadership is needed to restore the unity of this parish.”

“I went to the mass, listened to the letter and could not believe that the reason given for his dismissal was that Father could not heal the divide in the church,” said Joe Uchytil, a parish member since 1992. “What divide? How big is it? Let’s find the divide and fix it so Father can stay.”

Gene Plachinski and wife Marilyn, who had been members of St. Mary’s for 27 years, attended an open informational meeting the week after the announcement. They recall that the church was three-fourths full.

“The question was presented by a parish member for a show of hands of who wanted Father John to resign,” Gene Plachinski wrote to Zubik on Aug. 1. “Not one member raised their hand… A second question asked for a show of hands for those that wanted Father John to stay. Every hand in the meeting was raised to show their support. This does not sound to me like a parish that wants to get rid of their spiritual leader.”

Shaken support

Zickert’s departure prompted some families to search for a new parish.

Although approximately 10 families have officially removed themselves from the membership list of more than 600 families, many more have unofficially quit attending liturgy and discontinued financial support. Student enrollment at St. Mary Elementary School, reported at a finance council meeting, is down 46 students.

Further proof can be seen any given Sunday at one of six area parishes where up to 100 parishioners of St. Mary’s now worship. Still others, like Thielen, are searching for a new spiritual home. “I feel like I don’t have a base. When you go to these other churches, no one knows you.”

Joe and Mary Uchytil and their five children also have left the parish.

“Due to my realization that this problem has deep roots in the parish, it seemed obvious that the problem was not going to go away anytime soon,” he said. “I did not want to put my family through another priest being let go in the next five to 10 years.”

Some former members are questioning their Catholic faith.

“I am disgusted and ashamed to even say that I am Catholic,” said Dave Arent, who also has left St. Mary’s, pulled his children from its school and now is considering leaving the Catholic faith.

“This whole ordeal can only be described as Machiavellian,” he said. “In fact, I do not think Machiavelli himself could have penned such a story.”

Zubik said he and his staff have worked with parish members and that healing at St. Mary’s has begun.

Arent disagrees. “Healing denotes that a proper diagnosis was performed. There was no diagnosis, no second opinion, just immediate amputation.”

“We pleaded with (Bishop Zubik) to reconsider, re-evaluate, take time, leave Father there in an interim basis and do their homework properly,” former trustee and parishioner Susan May said of a meeting held 10 days after Zickert’s resignation was announced. “There was no willingness to do that.”

Numerous members of the congregation and former staff members who disagreed with Zickert’s management style refused to talk openly with The Post-Crescent, referring inquiries to the diocese.

To that, Zubik acknowledged there are strong-willed people in the congregation, some who supported Zickert and some who played a role in his departure.

“There are political forces that happen in a church community,” Zubik said.

“There are different functions and people have different ideas on the ways things should be done.”

Parishioner Thomas Miller supports the decision of Zubik and the capuchins.

“We believe the decision was in the best interests of St. Mary’s church and school,” Miller told The P-C in September.

“(Zickert) was given a job to do, which some felt could have been done better.”

Zubik said he’s hopeful the animosity within the parish will subside and people will move on with the business of the church.

“I have received letters saying we are glad to have moved on; we were sad to see Father leave but need to get on with what it means to be a church, to get on with what it means to our school,” Zubik said.

Roots of discontentment

St. Mary’s history dates back nearly as long as the founding of the Greenville community in the mid-1800s. But its track record over the past 20 or so years has been one of friction. Zickert is the third priest in that span to leave or be removed in part because of infighting within the congregation.

The Rev. Bob Groher said his stint at St. Mary’s in the 1980s was equally as troubling as Zickert’s. The last 18 months of his 4½ years there were filled with congregation dissension that not only resulted in his resignation but also his refusal to ever pastor another parish — despite repeated requests from the diocese.

Groher, now a missionary priest, said his situation in Greenville revolved around the school and money.

“What I have told Bishop Zubik about Greenville is that I left there under duress … I had just had enough. I just felt strongly enough that the parish was not geared toward everybody in the parish. It was geared toward a select group of people who made sure their mission was taken care of.”

In the 1990s, the Rev. Justin Werner took his turn as St. Mary’s spiritual leader. He ended up leaving the parish — he requested early retirement — amid what Zubik acknowledged was considerable infighting, much of it centered around the school and religious education programs. Werner declined comment for this story.

Before he was asked to resign, some parishioners had raised concerns about Zickert’s management style and unorthodox approach to the Catholic liturgy.

The fractious history of the parish makes moving on difficult.

“In Greenville, it appears that there is a recurring problem,” said St. Mary’s Deacon Rick Miech.

“It seems, though, that the treatments have been aimed at the symptoms. They go away for a while, but the real problem is not taken care of, and so eventually the symptoms return. This time, the injury is substantial and deep … To move to healing without addressing (the cause) is like dooming us to repeat this cycle again in the future.”

Zickert’s end begins

Zickert had been at St. Mary’s since 1997. By fall 2003, things turned ugly.

Some former parish officials claim the principal’s office at St. Mary School was the point of origin for the discontent.

The Parish Pastoral Council was in the throes of a capital campaign to add space for the growing congregation. It also was planning for the future in terms of staff expectations and performance. The council and the Board of Total Catholic Education had spent nearly 18 months investigating and resolving leadership issues in the school.

In August 2003, Deb Whittenberger, former treasurer of the school board, said Steve Zangl, the school administrator, began showing her copies of parish ledger sheets, and implying Zickert was taking funds.

“(Zangl) said demeaning things about Father all the time,” Whittenberger recalled. “I told him if there was one thing he did all school year it would be to get along with Father; ‘He’s your boss and signs your paycheck. He is a priest and is to be respected.’ (Zangl) snickered. It didn’t get any better; it only got worse.”

Subsequent audits on the parish and diocesan levels found things to be above board, Whittenberger said.

Zangl declined to comment for this story.

Computer controversy

In mid-January of this year, things came to a head when Zickert did a performance review with Zangl.

“There were some issues with Steve that if I had been him I wouldn’t have been too happy with,” Zickert said.

Shortly thereafter, Zangl filed a report with the diocese stating that in July 2000 he had found evidence that someone had tried to access a pornography Web site on a computer at St. Mary School and alleged that Zickert was responsible. Officials at the diocese were on the phone the next day.

“I was called up on the 31st not to be asked about it, but to be accused of doing that,” Zickert said of the meeting with Monsignor John Dewayne (diocese vicar of administration) and Auxiliary Bishop Robert Morneau of the diocese.

Zubik, who told The P-C he was unaware that the computer incident had happened 3½ years earlier, said the diocese reacted quickly.

“Obviously we are out to make sure children, young people, vulnerable adults are in safe environments,” Zubik said.

“When we get a report, whether or not that report is true or false, I insist we have to turn it over to someone, because that is where the investigation takes place.”

A subsequent investigation by the Outagamie County Sheriff’s Department found no evidence Zickert was involved, according to the department’s six-page case report.

The report also indicates that Zangl raised other allegations of improprieties involving Zickert’s management style and numerous contacts he had with St. Mary students.

However, the report indicates that the investigator interviewed various students and parents and found no criminal behavior.

St. Mary’s Board of Total Catholic Education asked Zangl to resign June 30 of this year. He was given an undisclosed financial settlement and now serves as principal of All Saints Catholic School in Berlin.

Psychological testing

Under advisement of legal counsel, Zickert underwent a psychological evaluation in March at Appleton Psychiatric & Counseling Center, which included personality, mood status and cognitive function tests as well as four sex-offender risk assessments and an extended clinical interview.

A summary of the evaluation, dated March 31 and provided by Zickert, found no evidence of personality or psychotic disorders, significant anxiety or sexual deviancy.

“The diocese still forced me to go to (St. Michael’s Community) St. Louis,” Zickert said. “The reason for St. Louis was leadership and interpersonal things, but sexual stuff was off the table ...”

William Brown, a counselor at St. Michael’s, found evidence of early dementia and that a risk to act out sexually with a teen female might occur if Zickert’s thinking or behavior should deteriorate. “It is my opinion,” Brown wrote, “that this man could greatly benefit from a program such as St. Michael’s Community to address the aforementioned issues.”

That report drew a heated response from those who have rallied to Zickert’s defense. They sought out an independent psychologist to review the materials. Hollida Wakefield of the Institute for Psychological Therapies in Northfield, Minn., called the St. Michael’s report “speculative, unsupported balderdash.”

The St. Michael’s report, said Maher of Opus Bono Sacerdotii, is finding guilt where none exists.“There is no reason Father could not be reinstated or work in public ministry. He is completely innocent.”

On July 14, Zickert said, he received a call from Auxiliary Bishop Morneau asking that the results of the St. Louis testing be in the hands of the diocese within one week. Two days later, he demanded that the results be turned in that same day for the diocesan attorney to review.

“They got the report late Friday, met with me on Monday (July 19), fired me on Wednesday (July 21),” Zickert said. “I didn’t accept it.”

Peter Bekkers drove his friend to the diocese, resignation in hand, the following day. “He was frustrated and very hurt. It was a done deal.”

The resignation would be announced at mass that weekend.

‘The Lord’s guidance’

The anger continues to resonate as the newly appointed parish priest, The Rev. Mark Vander Steeg, looks to bring the congregation together.

“My key responsibility will be to draw the people closer to the Lord,” Vander Steeg said following his appointment in late October.

He said he intends to respect the parish’s unique qualities and work to ensure its vitality for years to come.

“Any challenges that come before us will be addressed openly, with due respect and with all of us prayerfully seeking the Lord’s guidance,” he said.

Despite the rift, Deacon Dave DeYoung said the parish will move forward, trying to be a Christian community that welcomes people and treats people with dignity and respect.

“And to patch up those hurts,” he said. “And there are hurts — there’s no question about that.”