Some of you may remember the rather sensational story from last year, about a woman priest in New York City who was attacked with acid. Reports at the time hinted it may have been a hate crime, committed by someone opposed to the ordination of women—a narrative that the Women Priests encouraged in at least one early media account:
[Spokesperson for Roman Catholic Women Priests] Jennifer O’Malley feels that all the good work in the world can’t change the horrible fact that some people can’t stomach seeing a woman in the priesthood. “There’s certainly people that are very orthodox Catholics that are certainly unhappy with what we’re doing,” she said. “We are breaking Canon Law 1024, which says only a baptized male can be a priest.” Rather than go along with the church, though, O’Malley says the Womenpriests movement believes the law is oppressive and deserves to be abolished.
O’Malley changed her tune in a later interview with the National Catholic Reporter, and said she didn’t think it was a “theological hate crime” after all.
Turns out, it wasn’t.
Following his investigation, the DA has this:
A man who burned a female Queens priest by throwing an acid-like liquid in her face committed the gruesome crime as part of a cover-up of an embezzlement scheme at a non-profit,the Queens district attorney said Tuesday. Jerry Mohammed, 32 — who is accused of attacking ordained priest Alexandra Dyer — a member of the sect Roman Catholic Womenpriests and executive director of the Healing Arts Initiative – in August. He allegedly schemed with a former employee of the non-profit who fleeced $750,000 from the group, law enforcement sources said. Mohammed and Kim Williams, 47 — a former accountant for the group — plotted the attack on Dyer to distract from the theft and apparently make it look as if a hardened thug had stolen the money instead of her, according to law enforcement sources. Pia Louallen, 41, a close friend of the allegedly twisted numbers cruncher, worked with Williams and pocketed $150,000 between 2013 and 2015, law enforcement sources said. All three were indicted for the scheme Tuesday, Queens District Attorney Richard Brown said.
And today we celebrate...