Joseph Sito, 80, a laicized Roman Catholic priest, died Monday afternoon when the car he was driving crossed the center line on Five Mile Road at Levan in Livonia, Michigan, and swerved into oncoming traffic. Also killed were two women in the eastbound vehicle: Suzanne Wernette-Robb, 67, of Redford Township and her mother Bernadine Karby, 88, of Livonia.
Both Sito and Karby were declared dead at the scene. Wernette-Robb died later at a local hospital.
Five other vehicles were involved in the accident, crashing into Sito’s car and Wernette-Robb’s Ford Focus. Several occupants of a Ford minivan which crashed into the disabled vehicles were also injured; but there were no other fatalities. The accident happened at about 3:30 p.m. January 5, but the road remained closed until 10:00 p.m. while officers investigated.
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There has been no report as yet regarding the reason for Sito’s unexpected swerve into oncoming traffic. A heart attack? Texting while driving? Spider on the windshield? We may never know-but what is apparent is that his life had veered off-track long ago.
Sito was ordained to the Catholic priesthood in 1962, and served at a number of parishes in the Archdiocese of Detroit. In the 1980s, Fr. Joseph Sito served as pastor at the merged St. Stephen Mary Mother of God parish in Detroit. Later he was pastor at St. Cletus Church in Warren until his resignation in 1993, after he was accused of sexual misconduct with a minor in a case dating back to the 1960s. He was sent by the Archdiocese to two different facilities for treatment as a sex offender; but after completing treatment, he was permitted to resume his priestly ministry on a limited basis.
Then in 1989, a new complaint against the priest emerged. This time, Father Sito was charged with fourth degree criminal sexual contact after he persuaded a 17-year-old boy whom he’d been counseling to expose himself. He pleaded guilty to a lesser charge and paid a fine.
In 1999, he was convicted; and procedures were initiated to remove him permanently from the ministerial priesthood. The case went to the Vatican, and when the case concluded in 2004 he was laicized-barred from presenting himself as a priest, from wearing priestly garments, or from celebrating Mass. As a layman, Sito was still entitled to a small archdiocesan pension for having served more than 15 years in local parishes; but beyond that, the Archdiocese had no further obligation to him.
This week Sito’s life, with its dark secrets and public shame, has come to an end. How God will judge this broken soul, as he stands before the judgment seat of Christ, I do not know. I pray today for Sito and the other victims of Monday’s crash, for those he has wounded and those he has loved. In this Year of Mercy, may God in His abundant mercy welcome him home, and may Sito find the peace he could not find here on earth.
Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them.
May their souls and the souls of all the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.
Hi,I’ve gone through this psroecs with a 2 different themes and when I change the weather to an international postcode/code (depending on the theme) when I respring my ipod, nothings changedCan you please help me because I really wanna get my weather working!The date and time work perfectly well, just not the weatherThanks
What, exactly, is the purpose of relaying this news story? The man is dead (and, judging from media reports, may have suffered a serious medical problem that led to the accident). What purpose does it serve to spread dirt about a dead man? Is this truly Christian behavior?
Protestant ministers are “defrocked”. When applied to a Catholic priest, the term confuses the separated brethren into believing that the Church can somehow unmake a priest, somehow reverse the sacrament of Holy Orders. Protestants are rather casual about sacraments and many believe that men can reverse God’s sacraments at will, for example, they unmake their marriages by divorce and sometimes are baptized multiple times. As a result, Protestants often wonder why the Church allows a man to remain a priest after committing some heinous act. Of course, once a man becomes a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek through the grace of God his priesthood isn’t a matter of the Church ‘allowing’ anything, the decision is in the hands of God not men.
Lord, Have mercy on His soul and pay his life’s debts.