Priest's death leaves mystery

Rev. John Minkler, a chaplain at the Stratton Veterans Administration Hospital in Albany, was found dead in his Watervliet home on Feb. 15 (see obituary on page 25). An autopsy has been scheduled, but the cause of his death had not been established when The Evangelist went to press.

Father Minkler, who was ordained a priest of the Albany Diocese in 1972, was assigned to the Archdiocese for the Military Services.

The Albany Diocese said "Father Minkler's is a great loss for his family and friends, for the Albany Diocese, and for the veterans and staff of the Stratton Veterans Administration Hospital in Albany, where he served faithfully as Catholic chaplain for 20 years. We will pray for Father Minkler and for all who loved him."

Last week, Father Minkler was identified in a television news report as having written a 1995 letter critical of Bishop Howard Hubbard. The purported letter to the late Cardinal John O'Connor of the New York Archdiocese claimed Bishop Hubbard had been involved in a sexual relationship with two priests.

Father Minkler denied writing such a letter, both in a signed statement and later in a personal meeting that he sought with Bishop Hubbard.

The Archdiocese of New York said that, after a search of its files, it could not locate such a letter.

In comments to the press after Father Minkler's death, Bishop Hubbard said that the priest "was very disturbed that his name was associated with this letter," and that Father Minkler requested a meeting with him last week to "assure me that he was not its author."

In its Feb. 17 issue, The New York Post reported that on the day before his death, Father Minkler called Rev. Joseph Wilson, a priest in Queens, to ask how he could handle media inquiries. Reporters said that they got copies of the letter from John Aretakis, the attorney who has unsuccessfully brought several lawsuits against the Albany Diocese over matters related to clergy sexual abuse.

Mr. Aretakis also acted as spokesman for two other people who have recently alleged sexual misconduct on the part of the Bishop.

In addition, a conservative advocacy group in Illinois, calling itself "Roman Catholic Faithful," alleged that it had received reports from Father Minkler that labelled several of his fellow priests as homosexuals.

According to its website, the group's "philosophy" includes "not sit[ting] idly by, nor blindly follow[ing], while many in the hierarchy allow the Holy Catholic Church to be torn apart and assaulted by the forces of Modernism, Syncretism, Heresy, and the gross immorality of some of its clergy."

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