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- <text id=90TT2178>
- <title>
- Aug. 13, 1990: All For Love
- </title>
- <history>
- TIME--The Weekly Newsmagazine--1990
- Aug. 13, 1990 Iraq On The March
- </history>
- <article>
- <source>Time Magazine</source>
- <hdr>
- RELIGION, Page 61
- All for Love
- </hdr>
- <body>
- <p>An "intimate relationship" leads to an Archbishop's fall
- </p>
- <p> The 1988 installation of Eugene Marino as U.S. Roman
- Catholicism's first black Archbishop was a proud moment for
- Atlanta and the church. But last May the Archbishop, 56,
- suddenly went on leave; a spokesman blamed "cardiac stress" and
- exhaustion. In July, Marino became one of the few Archbishops
- ever to resign, saying he needed "spiritual renewal,
- psychological therapy and medical supervision." Last week,
- however, the archdiocese confirmed reports that the real problem
- was Marino's involvement with Vicki Long, 27, through most of
- his brief reign.
- </p>
- <p> James Lyke, a black bishop from Cleveland whom the Pope made
- interim administrator of the archdiocese, told reporters of an
- "intimate relationship," but a colleague was blunter with the
- Atlanta Constitution: "Love got the best of him." The
- entanglement was bizarre because the year before the Archbishop
- came to town, Long had filed a $2.3 million paternity suit
- against a Georgia priest. Long, an active Catholic and
- Eucharistic minister living in suburban Riverdale, is described
- as a singer. Though blood tests ruled out the priest's
- paternity, the Savannah diocese reportedly agreed to give Long
- financial support. The case is still pending.
- </p>
- <p> Breaking the scandal, Atlanta's WAGA-TV reported that Marino
- and Long attended social functions together and that Marino
- named Long as beneficiary in a flight-insurance policy. WAGA-TV
- also said Marino helped Long buy a house and paid her $1,500
- a month in living expenses. Although Marino's pay is $1,500 a
- month, Lyke assured Catholics that "no church money has been
- used" to aid Long, except for unspecified amounts for medical
- bills. The relationship is over, said Lyke, who offered no
- details on a new legal claim by Long against the church.
- </p>
- <p> In a fast-track career, Marino was the first black to hold
- the No. 2 post in a religious order, and then he became
- auxiliary bishop of Washington. Lyke said a tip to the Vatican
- pro-nuncio last April led to a church investigation and
- Marino's resignation. Though Lyke defended church officials'
- performance, the cover-up does little to inspire confidence,
- and the episode again raises questions about celibacy.
- Moreover, the loss of Marino is a serious blow for a church
- eager to stem alienation among blacks.
- </p>
-
- </body>
- </article>
- </text>
-
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