Rectory

The Rev. Paul F. Maurer, 87, a priest, teacher and organist who lived for more than half a century in one South Philadelphia rectory, died Tuesday of a heart attack at St. Francis Country House, a Darby nursing facility for priests. Father Maurer, pastor emeritus of Epiphany of Our Lord Church, resided in the church rectory at 11th and Jackson Streets for 55 of his 57 years in the priesthood, serving as parish pastor from 1974 to 1988 after teaching for many years at Roman Catholic High School.

After more than three weeks of negotiations, the Episcopal Diocese of Pennsylvania has persuaded a priest charged with possession and distribution of child pornography to resign. The Rev. Robert K. Orr, rector of All Hallows Episcopal Church, on Tuesday accepted a severance package consisting of eight months' salary, benefits and housing allowance, his attorney, John Elbert, said yesterday. Under the terms of the agreement, Father Orr may live at the rectory next to the church's nursery school until June 14. The last day the school will be in session is June 12. An off-duty Cheltenham Township police officer will be posted at the school until then, said school director Courtney Sjostrom.

The children returned to the nursery school at All Hallows Episcopal Church yesterday for the first time since the rector was arrested last week on charges relating to the possession and distribution of child pornography. There have been a few changes since the last time the youngsters were there. The locks have been changed. There will not be any outdoor recess in the near future. An off-duty Cheltenham Township police officer will be on the school grounds for at least a week.

The Rev. Robert K. Orr, rector of a small Episcopal church in Wyncote, was arrested Monday evening on two counts of sexual abuse of children, a charge that refers to the possession of child pornography. The Montgomery County District Attorney's Office said yesterday that the arrest was made after two members of the All Hallows Church parish told authorities the priest, 54, was seen in the church office downloading child pornography from the Internet. Father Orr was arraigned yesterday and released from Montgomery County prison after posting $50,000 cash bail.

The driver of a carjacked minivan led police on a high-speed chase from Kensington to South Philadelphia and back during rush hour last night, then was captured in a church rectory after a dramatic foot pursuit along the tracks of the Frankford El. During the hour-long drama, police fired shots at the van in the area of Fourth and South Streets after the vehicle struck an officer at Second and Moore Streets. The officer was briefly hospitalized with minor injuries. The unidentified suspect, who shinnied 20 feet down a drain pole from the El tracks, was found hiding under the altar inside the nearby Immaculate Conception Church rectory at Front and Pollard Streets in Northern Liberties.

The paperwork alone was daunting. But John Montagna, a divorced Catholic, wanted to wed his fiancee in a Catholic ceremony. So he plowed through the application for an annulment of his first marriage. And when he had finished the 10 typewritten pages, his parish priest told him: Sorry, the forms had been revised by the Trenton Diocese. He'd have to start all over again. Instead, Montagna and his fiancee, Teri Praul, took stock. Their faith was important to them. But so was time.

OK, it's a pagan bacchanal. And yes, it's crawling with Aztec sun kings and Egyptian priests and voodoo witch doctors, strutting up Broad Street in honor of the god Momus. But over on Watkins Street in South Philadelphia is a man in a clerical collar praying for all those witches, clowns, King Jockeys and female impersonators in the Mummers Parade. He is Brother John Holt, an Augustinian monk. He's been the parade's unofficial chaplain since 1987. "It's a lot of fun. It gets me away from the routine of parish life," Brother John, 43, said with a laugh.

The air on Benson Street was thick yesterday afternoon with the stench of the Wednesday fire that consumed the Bible Church of God and its attached rectory. The sidewalk was thick with preachers and other good Samaritans. They came to offer the Rev. Ulysses Banks, 60, and his wife, Lena M., 52, food and clothing and bedding and donations. By the end of the day, Mr. Banks had a place to preach to his flock of about 60 on Christmas Sunday. And the 10 members of the minister's extended family, who lost their home and everything else in the fire, were beginning to see their material life somewhat restored.

The Rev. Ladislaus J. Ryczek, pastor of St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church in Conshohocken and a community college instructor, died at St. Mary's rectory on Monday, six days after his 58th birthday. Father Ryczek was ordained May 19, 1962, at the Cathedral Basilica of SS. Peter and Paul in Philadelphia by then-Archbishop John Krol. For two years, until June 1964, he served as parochial vicar of St. Joseph the Worker Church in Fallsington, Bucks County. Then, he entered the educational apostolate and taught at St. Matthew's High School in Conshohocken, now Archbishop Kennedy High School, where his subjects were religion, physics and sociology.

An 82-year-old Roman Catholic priest who left his North Philadelphia rectory to holler at a teen-ager breaking into cars was in serious condition last night after the youth punched and kicked him to the ground, police said. Cops collared a 15-year-old suspect an hour after the 4:30 p.m. attack. He was jailed. The priest, the Rev. Joseph Burton, was at Hahnemann University Hospital in serious condition with multiple injuries. Police said the priest, who lives at the rectory of St. Peter's Roman Catholic Church, 5th Street and Girard Avenue, saw the teen breaking into cars parked in the church lot. He went out to confront the youth, police said, but the thieving tough set upon the priest and beat him. After knocking Burton to the ground with his fists and feet, police said the youth went through the priest's pockets and fled.