Letter to Members of the Council of Seniors

The continuance in office by Archabbot Nowicki is a great scandal, and satisfies this statute from the Constitutions of the American Cassinese Congregation, which I include for the consideration of this Council.

D 23.2. 1. An abbot may be removed from office for other very grave reasons including the following:

1. His inability to fulfill the obligations of his office for whatever reason, including prolonged absence or grave mental or physical illness;
2. Habitual neglect of the obligations of his office;
3. Continued disregard for the proper law of the Congregation or for the lawful mandates imposed on him by the President of the Congregation;
4. Grave scandal arising from his culpable behavior.

The Facts: a formal complaint has been submitted to the Dicastery for Religious by a former Junior monk of colour, professed at St Vincent Archabbey, outlining a complaint of sexual harassment against Archabbot Nowicki to said Dicastery. Combine this with the other assertions made by Br. William D. Benthall, then we have a toxic situation.

Please be advised of the following: a) the Dicastery for Religious has acknowledged receipt of the complaint, and has assigned a Protocol Number; b) a copy of the complaint is in the possession of an Archbishop, who very kindly gave the author a copy, as a result of the recent threat to commence a lawsuit against the author.

Should the lawsuit commence, a copy of the complaint submitted to Rome with the name of the individual concerned redacted, can be uploaded onto the Misconduct in Latrobe website by Patrick Marker.

http://www.misconductinlatrobe.com/

It is a matter of genuine surprise that Archabbot Nowicki has not stood aside while the allegation is being investigated, and/or issued a formal denial of said allegation.

It is submitted to this Council that Archabbot Nowicki is wholly unsuitable to exercise the role as Chancellor of St Vincent College/Seminary until the Dicastery for Religious have made a determination on this matter. Moreover, an informal conversation with Middle States raised significant concerns on their part about this matter; and while the author did not identify the institution as being St Vincent College, what I can say due to the Jerry Sandusky sex scandal at Penn State, means the accrediting board are now paying much closer attention to these kind of allegations.

It has just been revealed that staff at St Vincent College are not receiving a pay rise, and that enrolment numbers for first-year students for the forthcoming year are down. Should it come into the public domain that the incumbent Chancellor of St Vincent College is currently subject to an investigation with respect to an allegation of sexual misconduct, along with his cover up of the paederastic activities with respect to the New Directions program by Archabbot Nowicki; admission numbers will only go one way, DOWN.

As the enclosed link reveals St Vincent College are in the final stages of fundraising. It is interesting to note that the advertisement makes no reference to the current President of St Vincent College, Br. Norman.

http://chronicle.com/jobs/0000720742-01

As is known from a previous e-mail, in the possession of the author are a significant number of college alumni e-mail addresses, along with current staff e-mail address book.

Please be advised that unless Archabbot Nowicki stands aside as Chancellor of St Vincent College/Seminary, I am going to formally write to the Board of Directors of the College, the Regents of the Seminary, and the following accreditation boards outlining that the incumbent Chancellor stands accused of a credible CURRENT allegation of sexual misconduct outstanding, and include a copy of the complaint submitted to the Dicastery for Religious in Rome with the name of the complainant redacted.

https://www.msche.org/documents/sas/424/Statement%20of%20Accreditation%20Status.htm

http://www.acbsp.org/p/cm/ld/fid=107&rgn=2

http://www.ats.edu/about/Pages/OffcBrd.aspx

To avoid this happening, Archabbot Nowicki needs to RESIGN immediately as Chancellor of St Vincent College & Saint Vincent Seminary. Whether Archabbot Nowicki suitable to be Archabbot of St Vincent Archabbey is a matter for the competence Dicastery in Rome. As I have stated before Archabbot Nowicki suffers from a kidney condition, so he has an exit.

It is my intention to write to all the Bishops that send seminarians to St Vincent seminary, including a copy of the complaint advising them to withdraw their seminarians until Archabbot Nowicki steps down as Chancellor, but I will NOT redact the name of the complainant.

Should these matters come into the public domain, the consequences for both the college and the seminary will be absolutely ruinous.

From next Monday, the author will e-mail 250 alumni each day inviting them to make direct contact with Pennsylvania State Police with any information that they may have pertinent to the criminality associated with New Directions program, along with advising them not to give any further donations to St Vincent College/Seminary as long as Nowicki remains as Chancellor. I will include a redacted copy of the complaint submitted to the Dicastery for Religious.

As stated by the author in the past I have no financial interest in St Vincent Archabbey; nor do I have any vested financial interest in Archabbot Nowicki resigning/being removed as either Archabbot/Chancellor of St Vincent College/Seminary. My actions have come about because of the harassing e-mails I received from an individual named Randall Flag, who in due course will be identified publicly; and whose identity is known to the District Attorney of Westmoreland County.

Fr. Bonaventure as a member of the California Bar will affirm that such e-mail correspondence potentially opens St Vincent Archabbey/College to a lawsuit because of the tortious actions of the aforesaid Randall Flag.

St Vincent College/Seminary now has an intractable problem, which is not going to dissipate, and the sooner it is resolved the better. Now is the time for the Council of Seniors to wake up to the fact that St Vincent Archabbey needs the direct intervention of the Dicastery for Religious, and members of this Council are strongly advised either collectively or individually to make direct contact with that Dicastery and speak with His Excellency, Archbishop Tobin C.Ss.R., his telephone number in Rome is: 011 3906 6988 4584

Quite often the Archbishop is extremely busy, and may have to be called on a number of occasions. The secretary that answers the phone does not speak good English; should be Archbishop not be available, any caller should request to speak with Fr. Henry [Hank] Lemoncelli O.M.I. who is an American official of the Dicastery for Religious.

Sincerely,

James Carr

Sent: Thursday, 10 May 2012, 16:02
Subject: Archabbot Nowicki / St Vincent College & Seminary
Members of the Council of Seniors at St Vincent Archabbey