MONSIGNOR'S ARREST IN QUEENS ON DRUG CHARGES FILLS PRIESTS AND FRIENDS WITH
SHOCK

He was the fastest-rising priest from his seminary class, and his future in
the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York seemed unlimited.

James E. White had been the first from his class to be named monsignor, had
served in the highly visible post of associate pastor at St. Patrick's
Cathedral, and had even worked briefly on the personal staff of John
Cardinal O'Connor. And so by 1996, when he was chosen to run an important
pre-seminary program to help college students interested in the priesthood,
Monsignor White was emerging as an important role model, one of the few
prominent black priests in an archdiocese deeply concerned about expanding
its reach within the black community.

Yet that stellar background has only deepened the sense of personal tragedy
felt by his friends and fellow priests after Monsignor White was arrested on
misdemeanor drug possession charges on Tuesday. Priests who know Monsignor
White expressed shock Wednesday at the news of his arrest, saying it seemed
completely out of character for the 50-year-old priest they described as
quiet and gentle.

Several priests who have known Monsignor White for years, including some who
were in his seminary class, said they had never seen any evidence of his
involvement with drugs.

They added that his arrest was painful and damaging to the archdiocese,
especially since New York has so few black priests in senior positions. "I
really couldn't believe it," said Msgr. Howard Calkins, pastor of Sacred
Heart Catholic Church in Mt. Vernon. "This is a painful moment.

I feel for him. I feel for the Archbishop."

William Scafidi, pastor of St. Mary's Catholic Church in Newburgh, N.Y.,
where Monsignor White previously served as pastor, said: "He is an excellent
guy; that's why this is so damaging."

Monsignor White was arrested along with another man after allegedly buying
cocaine from an undercover officer in the Jackson Heights section of Queens.
He pleaded not guilty to a misdemeanor narcotics possession charge in Queens
criminal court Wednesday and was released on his own recognizance. He agreed
to seek drug treatment and was ordered to appear in court on Aug. 18,
according to the Queens County Attorney's office.

Monsignor White, who is from West Harlem, came late to the priesthood,
spending much of his early career as a brother in the Catholic order of the
Christian Brotherhood. Ordained at the archdiocese's St. Joseph's Seminary
in Dunwoodie, Yonkers, in 1983, Monsignor White was first assigned to Staten
Island, where he served as an associate pastor at St. Clement and St.
Michael Church for two years.

After teaching at Cardinal Hayes High School for four years, he joined the
staff at St. Patrick's Cathedral in 1989. While there, he filled in for one
of Cardinal O'Connor's secretaries during one summer, said Joseph Zwilling,
a spokesman for the archdiocese of New York. In 1991, Monsignor White was
given his own parish, at St. Mary's Church in Newburgh, N.Y., which is part
of the Archdiocese of New York. Five years later, he was named rector of the
St. John Neumann Seminary Residence in the Riverdale section of the Bronx,
where about 40 college students considering the priesthood live and study
before they are ready to enter the seminary.

Catholic leaders and priests said they could not recall any similar cases of
a New York priest arrested on drug charges, and they were struggling to
absorb the news.

Last night, at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church, the West Harlem parish
where Monsignor White said his first mass and where his brother taught for
years, his friend, Father Thomas Fenlon, was composing a new church bulletin
that addressed the monsignor's troubles. "I was just writing in the bulletin
that we support him with our prayers," Father Fenlon said.

Checked-by: Melodi Cornett