AFFIDAVIT

of

MR. JUDE A. HUNTZ

Head Dorm Father for St. Gregory's Academy (1997-1998)

Special Projects Manager for the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter (1998-1999)

I, Jude Andrew Huntz, declare that the information about to be given is accurate and truthful to the best of my recollection.

From August 1997 to June of 1998 I was employed as the Head Dorm Father for St. Gregory's Academy, an all-boys boarding school operated by the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter (FSSP) located in Elmhurst, Pennsylvania.

From June of 1998 to July of 1999 I was employed as the Special Projects Manager for the District Headquarters of the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter, the offices for which are located in the building also housing St. Gregory's Academy.

The first section of the affidavit will deal with the recollection of events from my time as Head Dorm Father at St. Gregory's Academy. The second section will deal with the recollection of events from my time as Special Projects Manager for the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter.

Part I

In November 1997 the Society of St. John began moving into St. Gregory's Academy, having been invited by Father Devillers, FSSP, then district superior of the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter. Members of the Society immediately took an active interest in the Academy, many of whom often joined us to play sporting events. As the spring semester began, the Society of St. John began inviting the senior boys and prefects over to watch a movie and discuss the contents of the movies. Many of the titles were very good, including such films as Dead Poets Society and Hamlet. On one occasion I came over to one of the viewings to double check on which boys were away so as to account for everyone in the building. After counting heads I noticed a fully stocked liquor cabinet ready for use. I was assured by then Deacon Dominic Carey that such items were available only to the adult clergy.

In addition, the Society often celebrated Mass for the academy when the chaplain, Father Paul Carr, FSSP, was called away or ill. Over time, many of the boys would regularly see priests of the Society for spiritual direction.

In March of 1998, the specific day I do not recall, the Society invited the seniors and prefects over for one of the movie nights. Around 11:30 that evening some of the seniors had returned from the event in states of extreme intoxication. They were Daniel Kerr, John Clark, and Simon Tanner. It took myself and other members of the dorm staff quite some time to get the boys to bed for the evening. Father Car had witnessed this scene and informed me that he was going to see what was happening with the rest of the boys. Upon returning he informed me that the boys had been served alcohol by the Society in the presence of both Mr. Alan Hicks, headmaster of St. Gregory's Academy, and Mr. Howard Clark, assistant headmaster of St. Gregory's Academy. Father Carr then informed me that he was calling the police.

Before the police arrived I went over to the wing occupied by the Society of St. John to find some missing boys. I entered the TV room and found Michael Miller, John O'Brien, and Nicholas Beck remaining. Both Mr. Hicks and Mr. Clark had drinks in their hands and each assured me that the boys would be back soon, at which point I left to check on the boys in the dormitory.

When the police arrived Father Carr escorted them to the wing of the Society of St. John. I remained in the boys' dormitory. Michael, John, and Nick returned, complaining that Father Carr had called the police. After the police had left, Father Carr returned to the dormitory where he and I had a conversation about the events of the evening. I asked him what the police had done, to which he replied that they gave all the adults present—members of the Society of St. John, Mr. Hicks, and Mr. Clark—a warning on serving alcohol to minors. After being assured by those present that it would not happen again, the police left and did not file charges. I then asked Father Carr what our next step ought to be. He said that he was going to make an appointment to speak with Father Devillers and to Bishop James Timlin, Roman Catholic bishop of Scranton, PA about the matter. Father Carr later had those meetings and informed me that their result was minimal. Scandal was to be avoided and it was decided that the matter would be handled internally. Following these events, I made an attempt to be more careful about when the boys returned from such events. We had asked that the boys not be allowed to attend such events again but Mr. Hicks decided otherwise.

In May 1998 the Society of St. John held a celebration on the grounds of St. Gregory's Academy, commemorating their formal canonical establishment in the diocese of Scranton, PA. Mr. Hicks required that all the boys help in the celebration and to be present. Bishop Timlin was present for the celebration and no boys received any alcohol while the bishop was present.

However, a few weeks later the Academy held its graduation ceremony and celebration. I was out of town for most of the weekend. I attended the graduation ceremony, but I was not present for the banquet. When I returned from my trip, I was informed by a faculty member, Mr. Paul Hornak, a member of the dorm staff, Mr. Jerry Zienta, and some students, Garret Van Beek and Brennan Guenzel, that many of the academy boys had free access to alcohol during the banquet. The graduating seniors received a case of beer from Mr. Tony Myers, a member of the Society of St. John. I was told that this was a tradition that Mr. Myers had carried out every year at the academy. I was also told that Mr. Clark, assistant headmaster of the Academy, had found some sophomore boys with a large amount of beer in back of the kitchen. Not only did he fail to confiscate the beer and take appropriate disciplinary action, but he mildly encouraged such activity with a witty remark. One of the boys had set off the fire alarm in a drunken state late that evening. The fire department came. I do not know if the academy received any additional warning related to minors with alcohol.

Part II

In June of 1998 I began my new duties as Special Projects Manager for the Fraternity of St. Peter. I was married to my wife Cristen on August 15^th in Kansas City, KS. Two members of the Society of St. John attended the wedding ceremony—Father Marshall Roberts and then Deacon Basel Sarweh. Father Roberts borrowed my car to drive from Pennsylvania to Kansas in order to attend the wedding. Along the way he picked up three boys who also attended—Matthew Talarico, Bret Mansur, and John Zoszak. No incidents of alcohol to minors occurred at the wedding reception.

In the course of the next academic year, it happened from time to time that students would visit me in my office to chat. On one occasion two boys, Garret Van Beek and Michael McSheffrey, came to me wanting to go out for pizza one evening, something we did from time to time while I was dorm father. After agreeing to take them out for a pizza, they then asked me if we could have some beer also, to which I replied in the negative. They were surprised by my rejection, even a little indignant, stating that the Society of St. John and even Mr. Hicks would allow them to drink. What is more, the boys also indicated that the alcohol was provided to them by the Society or Mr. Hicks. Despite their plea, I still refused. I mentioned this to a priest of the Fraternity of St. Peter at the time, Father John Melnick, who said he would speak to Father Devillers about it. Father Melnick later told me that nothing would happen because Father Devillers and Alan Hicks are old friends. Father Devillers would never discipline Mr. Hicks, nor would he listen to anything against him. At that point I asked Father Melnick about the possibility of speaking with Bishop Timlin about the matter. Father felt the bishop might overreact to the situation, since he was a teetotaler. Father Melnick felt it best to wait for the new elections within the Faternity, for he felt that a new district superior would reform things in the Academy.

The Fraternity of St. Peter never had sound oversight with respect to St. Gregory's Academy. It was an issue that surfaced in Headquarter staff meetings and in meetings with priests. Whatever occurred at the Academy, according to the FSSP attorneys, was the responsibility of the Fraternity. Failure to exercise diligent oversight of the Academy by a member of the Fraternity constituted negligence in a court of law. This was the opinion of most Fraternity priests as well as legal counsel. Nevertheless, Father Devillers, FSSP, then district superior of the Fraternity of St. Peter, never addressed the issue and allowed Mr. Hicks to operate the school with no oversight. Whenever a priest chaplain of the Academy attempted to exercise such oversight, a conflict would ensue between the chaplain and Mr. Hicks. In every case the priest would be re-assigned and Mr. Hicks would continue to operate the Academy without oversight. This scenario occurred with the following priests: Father James Jackson, FSSP; Father Carlos Cassavantes, FSSP; Father Paul Carr, FSSP; Father Mario Portella, now a priest of the Archdiocese of New York.

The only time such a scenario did not occur was when the Society of St. John was allowed to be the chaplains to the Academy, an arrangement Mr. Hicks had requested and one which Father Devillers granted for one year—the year being 1998-1999. During that year absolutely no oversight of the Academy was exercised by the Fraternity of St. Peter. The Society of St. John had carte blanche access and influence at the Academy.

I moved away from the Scranton, PA area to the Dallas, TX area in the summer of 1999. This move ended my direct contact with the Fraternity of St. Peter, the Society of St. John, and St. Gregory's Academy.

The above testimony is true to the best of my recollection so help me God. Given in Plano, Texas on the 7^th day of January in the year of Our Lord 2002.

Signed by Jude A. Huntz

Witnessed by David Akard,

Notary Public State of Texas

ADDENDUM TO ORIGINAL AFFIDAVIT

Additional information related to police incident at St. Gregory's Academy and subsequent events.

Part I

I cannot recall the exact date as to when the police came to St. Gregory's Academy in order to warn both the Society of St. John and the administration of the Academy about serving alcohol to minors. They arrived sometime between 11:00 PM and 12:00 AM. I saw the car come up the driveway and approach the building, though I could not tell whether it was a local police unit or the state police. When they arrived I informed Father Carr who went to meet them at the door and escort them to the wing of the building where the gathering was taking place. Jerry Zienta and I remained in the Academy wing of the building to keep order and make sure all were in their rooms. Father Carr later returned to inform us of the police warning.

Several boys were awoken when the other boys returned from the Society of St. John intoxicated. Among the boys that I recall witnessing the return of the intoxicated students were Kevin Klassen, Brendan Landell, Mike Raeder, Sean Farrell, Steven Freshour, Garrett Van Beek, Robin Ekeya, Michael Pelletier, Grant Freeman, and John Zoszak.

Part II

The students had curfew times that were as follows: on weekdays students had to be in bed with lights out by 10:00 PM. On weekends students could remain up later, but lights out and curfew was 11:00. Seniors and prefects had the privilege of staying up a little later, but supervised by dorm staff.

When the Society of St. John began inviting boys over for movies and spiritual direction, the issue of curfew came up for review. Often students would return much later than curfew time, stating they were with the Society for an event or for spiritual direction. Ordinarily, if a student were out of the building beyond curfew they would need to sign out with a dorm staff member. When dorm staff attempted to apply this to the students going to the Society of St. John wing, it was rejected by the administration, which encouraged students to have contact with the Society. When asked about the curfew rule, the administration stated that since they were with trustworthy individuals in the Society that as long as the boys returned at a reasonable time the boys could break curfew. The phrase "reasonable time" was never defined.

In the delegation of duties that year, it was agreed upon that Jerry Zienta would cover the night watch of the building and make sure that students were in their rooms. He would often lock the building, check on ill students, and watch for boys sneaking out. He often observed boys returning late from the Society of St. John side, though he was sure that all would eventually return to their rooms. It was my duty to handle the morning routine, which consisted of getting the boys up and making sure they were in chapel for morning prayer by 7:00 AM. In my morning rounds I did not observe any students missing from their rooms in the morning.

The fact that students were returning late from meetings with the Society of St. John, however, was a concern to us. These students were often difficult to wake in the morning, were often late for morning prayer, and were lethargic the next day for classes after such late evenings. I approached the administration of the Academy about this, and he said that he would discuss it with Father Urrutigoity, the superior of the Society of St. John. Whether such a conversation took place or not I am unable to say. However, boys continued to return late frequently from the Society quarters and the problem persisted.

Sworn and attested to on this 15^th day of February in the year of Our Lord two thousand and two.

Signed by Jude A. Huntz

Witnessed by Jonathan W. Frank,
Notary Public State of Texas

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