When Bishop Victor Galeone dismissed priest Glenn Charest of Our Lady Star of the Sea Catholic Church in Ponte Vedra Beach, many in the parish were curious about the decision.Charest is popular with the congregation, and the dismissal came as a surprise to many parishioners.
Galeone did not explain his reasons for dismissing Charest, which lead to speculation and rumors about the priest’s dismissal.
Monsignor Daniel Logan, who leads the congregation at Our Lady, warned the parishioners, "Make sure what ever you say it’s true before you say anything about it."
Cathleen Bagg, director of communications for the Diocese of St. Augustine, said the diocese does not comment on clergy personnel decisions, but that the dismissal had nothing to do with abuse.
Some members of the church vocalized their disagreement with the Bishop’s decision.
Church member Tim Jones organized a petition to send to the bishop asking him to reverse his decision.
In an e-mail, Jones wrote, "This action by the Bishop has the potential to dramatically affect the health and strength of our parish at a time when it’s growing and becoming stronger."
Logan said the bishop had supreme authority and that a petition drive within the Catholic Church was very unusual and probably would do more harm than good.
Charest was ordained in 1977 and served in Orlando and Richmond before taking a break to work in the insurance industry for 20 years. He returned to active ministry three years ago, and would have been working for Our Lady Star of the Sea for two years this July.
Charest will serve at the church until June 30. He said he wasn’t completely sure why he was being dismissed, but said that if it was anything immoral he would have been dismissed immediately and if it were anything illegal he’d be in jail.
Logan said Charest was a fine priest and he didn’t know why he was being dismissed, but that the dismissal wasn’t unusual. Logan served four different churches before settling at Our Lady Star of the Sea.
Charest is pursuing another ministry within Florida.
SIC: PVR