By David W. Virtue
www.virtueonline.org
12/29/2009
An Episcopal priest from the Diocese of Bethlehem whose partying behavior in New York bars made headlines in the NY Daily News has been inhibited and his license will be revoked by Episcopal Bishop Paul Marshall.
Saying he was "shocked" by newspaper reports of Fr. Gregory Malia's activities, Bishop Marshall wrote VOL and said, "I am removing him from his appointment as my vicar at St. James in Dundaff, and will be inhibiting him from the exercise of priestly ministry. I can assure the diocese that neither the News reporters nor our internal figures suggest that any church funds were misappropriated –– St. James is a summer chapel open approximately ten Sundays a year."
Malia was formerly a deacon and priest at Trinity Episcopal Church in West Pittston when Fr. John Major was rector of Trinity. Malia left under a cloud. Fr. Major is now rector at Prince of Peace of Dallas, PA. Major did not return calls.
According to another source Malia may not have fulfilled all of the normal requirements of his Clinical Pastoral Education required by the diocese for ordination, using his hemophilia as an excuse. Marshall described Malia as very hard to catch up with.
"Part of the surprise of all this is that he has a very conservative view of the Bible, is opposed to all expressions of homosexuality (let alone ordination), and doesn't believe in the ordination of women. He has been known to speak in tongues. He has pretty much stayed away from diocesan events since (Gene) Robinson's (consecration). While I have always known him to be wealthy, he has always seemed to be the wealthy conservative. He has been generous to the churches he has served. The behavior described in the News takes me completely by surprise."
According to the Daily News, Malia frequented the Pink Elephant and other clubs in New York where he spent thousands on top-shelf liquors, doling out five-figure tips like silver dollars. "I work hard. I make good money. How I spend it - that is my business," the Rev. Gregory Malia, 43, told the Daily News. "I haven't done anything inappropriate."
But VOL has learned that Malia has a checkered past in the Diocese of Bethlehem. He was only ordained a vicar in 2002. According to Bishop Marshall, newspaper reports saying he was a priest at St. James in Carbondale were inaccurate. He was vicar at a summer parish in Dundaff that opens for about 10 Sundays a year, Marshall told VOL. "Malia's health has made it possible for him to attend only about 50 to 60% of services. The parish has a budget of about $16,000 for those weeks and doesn't have running water, heat, or inside plumbing--it's just a summer chapel."
Malia is a pharmacist who owns a specialty pharmacy dedicated to blood disorders. He is a hemophiliac. But according to the PA State Board of Pharmacy there is no Gregory Malia listed as a registered pharmacist in the state of Pennsylvania. He is permitted to own a pharmacy but he cannot manage it or dispense medications, said a board spokesman.
Malia, who has an unlisted phone number could not be reached for comment though he is listed as living in Pittston with the job title of Chief Executive Officer of something called New Life Home Care. Bishop Marshall said Malia did not return his calls. "Fr. Malia has not been an active participant in the life of the diocese.
Earlier today, he did not return a telephone call from my office; nor has he responded to an email note." Malia has a history of litigation.
In October 2007 Blue Cross of Northeastern Pennsylvania filed a $3.6 million lawsuit against New Life Home Healthcare of Pittston described as a "specialty pharmacy", alleging officials improperly billed the insurance company for medications provided to three of the pharmacy's employees.
The lawsuit, filed in Luzerne County Court, alleges New Life submitted claims for prescriptions for its president, Gregory Malia, and employees Dawn Litchey and Roger Deaton, despite knowing other insurance programs were responsible for the payments.
P.G. Ferrara, an attorney for New Life, vehemently denied the allegations and accused Blue Cross of filing the suit as part of a campaign to force New Life, which competes with a Blue Cross subsidiary that offers a similar service, out of business. Malia counter-sued.
As well as being sued by Blue Cross he has also been involved in legal disputes with a company called Express Scripts that makes the use of prescription drugs affordable for consumers through thousands of employers, government, union and health plans.
Another pharmacist in the area was approached by Malia to facilitate his business but declined after reading and reviewing his business procedures.
Bishop Marshall said he read the Daily News article "with deep distress" knowing its contents will trouble many parishioners. "The allegations made in the article, if true, constitute a serious violation of ordination vows to be "a wholesome example" to a priest's people.
If true, they may also violate other canonical provisions and certainly portray an unacceptable idea of Christian stewardship. The conservative group he has gathered around himself will be traumatized, and I will ask two priests in the locale to minister to them."
Marshall said Daily News reporters did not contact him or his communications representative prior to publishing this article, "and have not done so since then, although my home and office telephones are not unlisted."
Marshall said The Episcopal Church provides due process when such issues arise, "and no summary judgment can be made by me unilaterally."
The bishop said he had assigned the Diocese's Standing Committee to investigate Fr. Malia's activities.
END
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