Priest to face charges in court

From Bethlehem PA-

Episcopal priest Gregory Malia did not injure anyone when he allegedly waved a handgun at his two daughters and their boyfriends outside a Jenkins Township tavern in July, his lawyer said on Thursday.

Attorney Nanda Palissery said there was no evidence the gun was loaded.

Jenkins Township police allege in arrest records that Malia, 44, of Laflin, waved a gun as his daughter, Marilyn Malia, 23, was being assaulted by Angela Sweet, 24, in the parking lot of the River Street Ale House on July 7.

After nearly two hours of testimony, District Judge Diana Malast agreed with Palissery, dismissing four felony counts of aggravated assault, the most serious charges, against Malia.

Malast forwarded six counts of reckless endangerment and two counts each of simple assault and disorderly conduct against Malia to Luzerne County Court of Common Pleas.

The district judge sent two counts each of simple assault and driving under the influence, and one count each of harassment and disorderly conduct against Sweet to county court.

Sweet, of Larksville, was one of two women with Malia inside the tavern when Marilyn Malia arrived with her boyfriend, Ron Romashko.

They were meeting her sister, Amanda Malia, and her boyfriend, Dennis Condusta, and did not know their father was there.

“I asked my sister if we should leave and she said, ‘Don’t worry about it. Don’t let him ruin your night,’ ” Marilyn Malia testified.

Marilyn Malia said she stood with Romashko on the other side of the tavern away from her father. As a band was playing, she testified her father was dancing with Sweet and intentionally bumped into her shoulder.

“I threw my beer in his face,” Marilyn Malia testified. “My boyfriend grabbed my arm and told me it was time to leave.”

More here-

http://www.timesleader.com/news/Priest_to_face_charges_in_court_11-06-2009.html

Episcopal clergyman criticized

From Bethlehem (PA)

The Episcopal Diocese of Bethlehem moved one step closer to defrocking Gregory Malia, a priest who holds a residency in Laflin and runs a Pittston business.

Malia first ran afoul of the diocese in December when articles in the New York Daily News described him as “a big spending, champagne swilling, club-hopping priest from the coal fields of Pennsylvania” who frequents trendy Manhattan clubs “in the wee hours and spends thousands on top shelf liquors, doling out five-figure tips like silver dollars.”

When those articles appeared, Episcopal Diocese of Bethlehem Bishop Paul Marshall “inhibited” Malia – barring him from ministering as a priest. Marshall said that, if true, the actions depicted in the newspaper “constitute a serious violation of ordination vows to be a wholesome example to a priest’s people.”

The issue then went before the Standing Committee of the Diocese of Bethlehem, a body that investigated the claims.

On Monday, the diocese issued a statement noting Marshall had received a formal letter of complaint from the Standing Committee saying Malia “has by certain publicly known actions and failures to act, abandoned the Discipline and Worship of this Church.”

The bishop then issued a new inhibition that bars Malia from conducting priestly ministries or presenting himself as a priest. The renewed restrictions come with a deadline: Malia has six months “to make matters completely right according to the Church’s canon law.”

More here-

http://www.timesleader.com/news/Episcopal__clergyman_criticized_08-19-2009.html

Episcopal Diocese investigating partying priest

More on the Party Priest. You can follow the whole thing by clicking on "Gregory Malia" in the labels below. Incidentally Dom Perignon was a Benedictine Monk who when he first tasted a wine that had been re-bottled discovered it was full of bubbles and is reported to have said "I'm tasting stars".

On Wednesday, Dec. 31, the Rev. Malia defended his actions and said the Episcopal Diocese of Bethlehem rushed to judgement after an article appeared in The New York Daily News on Sunday that reported he spends tens of thousands of dollars on tips and liquor at trendy Manhattan nightclubs.

"I work 98 percent of the time, I don't get much time off at all and I do like to have fun," the Rev. Malia, 43, of Laflin, told The Times-Tribune on Wednesday, Dec. 31.

Speaking by cell phone from a vacation in Florida, the Rev. Malia described the Daily News reports as flawed.

The Daily News reported the Rev. Malia spent $35,000 for a bottle of champagne at one club and tipped waitresses as much as $10,000.

Disputing the accuracy of The Daily News' accounts, the Rev. Malia said he does not spend large amounts of money at night clubs as alleged.

The Rev. Malia suffers from hemophilia and his pharmacy, New Life Home Care, caters to people with similar bleeding disorders.

With an apartment in New York City, the Rev. Malia said he is able to access treatment for his condition he cannot find elsewhere. He said he did not realize spending time with friends at nightclubs would conflict with the church's call to live modestly.

Meanwhile, The Daily News reporter stood by his story Wednesday.
"It's interesting Gregory has chosen to attack The Daily News instead of addressing the allegations against him," reporter Sean Evans said.

Efforts to reach the Pink Elephant - a club the Rev. Malia visited according to The Daily News - were unsuccessful Wednesday.

The alleged $35,000 bottle of Dom Perignon was bought at a discounted price, the Rev. Malia said, and will be used in a fundraiser for an advocacy organization for bleeding disorders, which he would not name.

http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=20235294&BRD=2279&PAG=461&dept_id=467076&rfi=6

The evolution of a partying priest Greg Malia

The New York Daily News has more on the "Party Priest" in its gossip column. (So far no photos have surfaced of him in Belushi's hat.) You can follow the saga by clicking on Malia in the labels below.

The Dom Perignon-swilling, big-tipping party priest from Pennsylvania doesn’t just drop bank in NYC nightclubs, as the Daily News reported last week: Father Gregory Malia’s been spending up a storm in his own backyard.

Two weeks before Christmas, the Episcopalian man of the cloth (r.) shelled out some cash at an 18-and-up Wilkes-Barre, Pa., club called Evolution, inside the Woodlands Resort.

“Greg came in with a group of four older women, who approached the deejay booth and asked him to put on a Rihanna song,” says local radio jockey Ralphie Aversa of 97 BHT, who sometimes hosts at Evolution.

“One girl said Greg would take ‘very good care’ of the deejay if he helped them out. We thought that was odd.”

http://www.nydailynews.com/gossip/2009/01/06/2009-01-06_the_evolution_of_a_partying_priest_greg_.html

Pictures surface showing partying priest Gregory Malia with lots of lovelies

The Party Priest saga continues, this time with pictures! If you want to see all of the posts and follow the saga click on "Gregory Mailia" in the labels below.

Say cheese, Father Malia.

On the day the Episcopal church opened an investigation into his nightclub crawls, new pictures surfaced of a Pennsylvania priest getting his party on.

The candid camera caught the Rev. Gregory Malia living it up with lithe lovelies at one of his favorite haunts, Pink Elephant.

He's seen drinking Perrier Jouet pink champagne that costs $550 a bottle and doing shots with the gals, all wearing identical minidresses.

The club-hopping cleric is dressed casually, sporting jeans and a long-sleeved T-shirt.
The photos came to light after a story about Malia's extravagant spending in clubland prompted church elders to launch a probe.

Read it all-

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/us_world/2009/01/02/2009-01-02_pictures_surface_showing_partying_priest.html

Bishop seeks probe of hard-partying priest Gregory Malia

Further update on the Party Priest from Bethlehem. From the New York Daily News-

An Episcopal bishop will formally ask a church committee Friday to open an investigation into club-hopping priest Gregory Malia's nightlife romps.

The Right Rev. Paul Marshall of the Diocese of Bethlehem, Pa., said he was troubled by reports of Malia dropping tens of thousands of dollars at trendy boites, in apparent violation of his vows.

Malia - who has been suspended from his priestly duties - could be permanently defrocked if the so-called standing committee rules against him.

The Jaguar-driving priest has denied doing anything improper and predicted the church committee will clear him and let him return as vicar of a small summer parish.

He insists wild spending on visits to clubs like Pink Elephant were connected to fund-raising efforts and his for-profit company - a pharmacy for hemophiliacs.

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/2009/01/01/2009-01-01_bishop_seeks_probe_of_hardpartying_pries.html

Pa. priest denies impropriety for NYC club outings

The "party priest" responds in the Philadelphia Inquirer. See the first post of the day if you haven't been following the story -

A part-time Episcopal priest said allegations of extravagant night-clubbing that led to his ouster from a northeastern Pennsylvania church have been greatly exaggerated.

The Rev. Gregory Malia defended himself against a pair of stories published earlier this week in the New York Daily News. The newspaper, relying on unidentified club workers, depicted Malia as a denizen of Manhattan's hottest clubs and a big spender on top-shelf liquors who leaves five-figure tips.

"I think the whole thing has been blown way out of proportion and misconstrued," Malia told the Wilkes-Barre Times Leader in a story posted Wednesday on its Web site. "It's so twisted."

The Daily News stories raised enough concerns that Malia has been inhibited from performing his priestly duties by Bishop Paul V. Marshall of the Bethlehem diocese.

Marshall posted a note on the diocese Web site saying that the allegations, 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," Marshall wrote.

http://www.philly.com/philly/wires/ap/news/state/pennsylvania/20081231_ap_papriestdeniesimproprietyfornyccluboutings.html

Pennsylvania Priest Ousted for Partying at New York City Nightclubs

Follow up on a story I posted Sunday which can be found here-

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/2008/12/27/2008-12-27_episcopal_priest_makes_a_name_for_himsel.html

An Episcopal priest at a rural northeastern Pennsylvania parish has been ousted from priestly ministry for flamboyant partying at New York City nightclubs.

When a New York newspaper reported on his lavish lifestyle, the Rev. Gregory Malia told the Daily News: "I work hard. I make good money. How I spend it — that is my business."

The paper reported Sunday that Malia was a fixture in fashionable nightclubs, spending thousands of dollars on liquor and tips.

The Right Rev. Paul Marshall says the Episcopal Diocese of Bethlehem took the action because priests are supposed to observe "normal standards of modest living."

Malia is a businessman who served part-time in the clergy, most recently at St. James Episcopal Church in Susquehanna County.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,474344,00.html

Episcopal priest makes a name for himself in New York City nightclubs

From the "You Can't Make This Stuff Up" Department. In the New York Post.

The mystery man whose bottomless pockets have made him a legend in clubland is a young Episcopal priest from northeastern Pennsylvania.

"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."

There's no suggestion that Malia - a hemophiliac who owns a specialty pharmacy dedicated to blood disorders - has done anything wrong on his visits to the city.

Still, the clergyman's free-spending ways boggle the mind, even at Manhattan hot spots where staffers are used to seeing hundreds thrown down.

"All the waitresses in the clubs know who he is and smile and scream, 'Father Greg!' when he walks in the door because he's such a good tipper," one club waitress said. "He'll overtip ... on top of an automatic 20% gratuity."

Pink Elephant on W. 27th St. is a favorite haunt, but he also has spread the wealth at the Flatiron lounge Citrine and other pricey party spots.

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/2008/12/27/2008-12-27_episcopal_priest_makes_a_name_for_himsel.html