The Deacon's Bench
The Rev. John Stabeno calls his Monday-night meetings a sobering dose of “reality.”
In the basement of St. Charles Borromeo, dozens of drug addicts and alcoholics and their family members meet weekly to vent, cry, laugh, and smile.
Stabeno, a 14-year priest in the Diocese of Camden, says he tries to keep it real himself – right down to his attire. At a recent meeting, he wore loose jeans and a T-shirt as about 60 people gathered in a circle.
“He’s not just a priest,” said Rich Bilo, 26, of Deptford, who on this warm spring night had reached 38 days without alcohol with Stabeno’s assistance. “He understands this addiction thing.”
Stabeno, 50, a South Philadelphia native who has worked in addiction services for nearly 28 years, had a big vision: to open a sober-living house in Sewell for 30 men in recovery.
But after multiple postponements of meetings to present his plan to the township – the most recent last week – Stabeno is stepping back from the project, citing a lack of blessing from the Camden diocese and Bishop Dennis Sullivan.
“I’m not even permitted to be the primary mover,” Stabeno said. “We didn’t realize it was going to become so public. I needed to get permission from the bishop before doing this.”
Stabeno, whose plans became public through media accounts this year, had intended to oversee the facility through his nonprofit Prodigal House Foundation. The organization helps offset living costs for those entering recovery – and, on darker days, to help pay for funeral arrangements.
Camden diocese spokesman Peter Feuerherd said the church learned of Stabeno’s proposal through a news story.
“Diocesan policy does not permit priests to engage in outside ministries or enter into legal contracts like this without the expressed written consent of the bishop,” Feuerherd said in an e-mail. Sullivan instructed Stabeno to withdraw the application.
Read more about what led to this decision.
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