Preist gets booted

[Homicidalheathen]

Church boots club-hopping priest, Rev. Gregory Malia, from post in Pa. hamlet Carbondale

Courtesy of St. Stephen's Pro-Cathedral

He was booted from his post Tuesday after being exposed as a nightclub denizen.

The partying priest from Pennsylvania

The big-spending, champagne-swilling, club-hopping Episcopal priest from Pennsylvania is out of a job.

The Rev. Gregory Malia has been suspended as vicar of his parish and relieved of his priestly duties after "shocked" church elders learned about his extravagant escapades at city hot spots from the Daily News.

His bishop said Tuesday that Malia, 43, could be permanently defrocked if an internal investigation or trial confirms he violated his vows behind the velvet rope.

"What Father Malia is reported to have spent on a single evening would build and equip an African school or totally underwrite the homeless shelter we are building in Scranton," said the Right Rev. Paul Marshall, bishop of the Diocese of Pennsylvania.

"This is the technical meaning of 'scandal.'"

Malia, who was ordained in 2001, said he hasn't done anything wrong and can prove it to church investigators.

"I'm sure once they have all the facts I'll be exonerated," he said in a phone interview from Florida with his lawyer and publicist listening in.

"I don't agree I lead a lavish lifestyle," said Malia, whose company car is a $75,000 Jaguar.

"I'm a national businessperson dealing with very chronic and severe illnesses that cost huge amounts of money," he said.

"I'm not running a mom-and-pop store," he added with indignation.

As The News revealed Sunday, Malia is legend in clubland, where staffers report that he routinely drops tens of thousands of dollars in a single night.

He's known to buy magnums of Dom Perignon, which cost as much as $25,000. One night in Chelsea, he treated 10 tables around him to champagne, a source said. The tab: $10,000.

"Everybody smiles when he walks in the door because in walks six figures," one club impresario said.

The party-hearty priest - who does not draw a church salary as vicar of a part-time parish in Dundaff - said the reports were "exaggerated."

He suggested his club jaunts were for charity and his business, a pharmacy that specializes in medicine for hemophiliacs like himself.

"There's a lot of fund-raisers that work in and around the nightclubs," he said, declining to explain further.

Malia launched New Life Home Care in 2000. He would not discuss the company's finances.

The company is embroiled in a $3.6 million lawsuit with Blue Cross of Northeastern Pennsylvania over billing practices.

The Pennsylvania attorney general's office investigated new Life last fall but found no wrongdoing, a law enforcement source said.

The source said investigators plan to take a second look, but a spokesman for the office said he could not "confirm nor deny" any probe. Malia said he "absolutely" welcomes any investigation.

Malia's parish, St. James, is a summer chapel open only 10 Sundays a year, has a budget of $16,000 and doesn't have running water or heat.

In his statement, the bishop said he asked diocesan priests to maintain a humble lifestyle and noted he gives 20% of his salary to church charity.

He said Malia's nightlife crawls suggested "a remarkable departure from normal standards of modest living" and said a billionaire wouldn't even spend money like that.

Malia shrugged off the criticism. "I give more to charity than he does," he said, saying he'd doled out "hundreds of thousands" to unnamed nonprofit organizations.

He was reticent about his personal life, refusing to discuss his bitter 2005 divorce, his estrangement from his two daughters or his 1991 arrest for assault.

His estranged brother, Tim Malia, said he grew up in foster care and had a difficult childhood because of his hemophilia.

"He's partying because he must be in a lot of pain," he said. "I've watched him suffer from a little kid onward."

[TitsMcGee]

Billionare partying hemopheliac preacher....

apparently they'll ordain just about anyone these days.

[Simon Bar Sinister]

I love the idea of religious leaders calling this a scam.

[Rev.Reverence]

..what the fuck HH...it said nothing about strippers...OR anything "scandal(ous)"...the man does his Priest work FOR FREE!

..& Tits...I take personal offense to that remark...but..yes..MY Church believes that if you WANT to be Ordained..that is a call from G*D & it is between the Individual & Divinity..& as a Reverend it is oOur duties to SPREAD the Divine Love..if some one WANTS to do that..We are MORE THAN HAPPY to Ordain them...you can do it online now! (I did it 'bout 11-12 years ago).

The Rev. Gregory Malia

Clubgoers at NYC hotspots are known for their fancy threads, but no one can front on one high roller's regular work attire: clerical robes. The Daily News has a profile of Reverend Gregory Malia, the Pennsylvania minister who makes regular trips to local clubs and is well-known by staffers for the generous cash he lays out whenever he visits. The divorced dad, who earns big bucks in pharmaceuticals, likes to hit Pink Elephant and Citrine and hears screams of "Father Greg!" from waitresses when he comes through the door--possibly because he's had nights where he has bought a $35,000 bottle and then laid out an extra ten grand on top of the usual 20% tip. And his charity doesn't end there. One source told the News. "He hangs out with waitresses, and sometimes comes back after a big night and takes (them) shopping...If they get someone like Father Greg, they know they're going to have a good night." Reverend Malia, whose business helps treat people who suffer from hemophilia (as he does), told the paper. "I work hard. I make good money...With my health condition, it's a blessing and a curse; [but] I do like to go out."

I know a couple of Catholic Priests & an Orthodox one too....& a great many from the C of UL...& WE ALL.....have 1 underlining unwavering bond...We Love G*D..& a GOOD party is a GOOD way to have a GOOD time & sharing is GOOD & sharring a GOOD time with GOOD people is a GOOD PARTY!

[Simon Bar Sinister]

Yeah...Jesus did turn water into wine when the party started getting weak.

[Rev.Reverence]

Yeah...Jesus did turn water into wine when the party started getting weak.

..true 'dat!

[TitsMcGee]

..what the fuck HH...it said nothing about strippers...OR anything "scandal(ous)"...the man does his Priest work FOR FREE!

..& Tits...I take personal offense to that remark...but..yes..MY Church believes that if you WANT to be Ordained..that is a call from G*D & it is between the Individual & Divinity..& as a Reverend it is oOur duties to SPREAD the Divine Love..if some one WANTS to do that..We are MORE THAN HAPPY to Ordain them...you can do it online now! (I did it 'bout 11-12 years ago).

The Rev. Gregory Malia

I know a couple of Catholic Priests & an Orthodox one too....& a great many from the C of UL...& WE ALL.....have 1 underlining unwavering bond...We Love G*D..& a GOOD party is a GOOD way to have a GOOD time & sharing is GOOD & sharring a GOOD time with GOOD people is a GOOD PARTY!

Sorry Rev I didn't mean to offend you. I was actually more poking fun at the billionare part.

[Rev.Reverence]

Sorry Rev I didn't mean to offend you. I was actually more poking fun at the billionare part.

Well..why can't a billionaire volunteer his time as a Priest...what's so wrong?

I can see the muss-n-fuss if he was using Church funds for his expeditions but he is doing it all out of his own pockett..& it said something about it was fundraisers & such things...that means he's doing MORE Church buissiness off the part time clock (he doesn't even punch in at).... What's SO wrong with that??? I don't remember ANY commandment that goes, "Tou shalt not 'DO THA BOOTY-UP!'!"