Saratoga News
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Photograph by George Sakkestad
Sacred Heart Parish has a new priest in the Rev. Gary Thomas. Thomas was on sabbatical in Rome when the church called him home to take over for the Rev. Randy Benas, who was arrested on a charge of felony rape and is on administrative leave from the church.
Priest returns early from Rome to take over Sacred Heart pulpit
By Jason Sweeney
The Rev. Gary Thomas has taken the helm at Sacred Heart Parish during a stormy period for the Saratoga church. Thomas cut short a year's sabbatical in Rome to take over as pastor following the arrest of the Rev. Randy Benas on March 30.
Thomas replaced Benas on May 1 and is also taking over the duties of Elizabeth Lilly, the church's minister for parish life. Lilly has worked for seven years at Sacred Heart but will be leaving her position in July. She currently is assisting Thomas during the transition.
"He's a very people person," Lilly said of Thomas. "Everyone's very excited."
Lilly said the month of May is a difficult one in which to bring in a new pastor. Mother's Day, First Communion, confirmations, ordinations and graduation all make May a particularly busy month for the church. Add the recent scandal that involved a rape allegation against a former priest and Thomas has his work cut out for him.
"People have been incredibly kind, supportive and welcoming," Thomas said. "The staff has been very supportive and helpful."
Benas was arrested for the alleged rape of a 29-year-old Oregon woman with whom he had an email relationship. After the pair met one night in a motel room in Sunnyvale, a police investigation followed. Police then arrested Benas on a charge of felony rape.
However, the Santa Clara County District Attorney's Office concluded there was not enough evidence to file charges against Benas. Benas remains on administrative leave from the church while the Diocese of San Jose conducts its own internal investigation.
At the time of Benas' arrest, Sacred Heart was still recovering from a civil suit filed against one of its priests, the Rev. Al Larkin. Two men had filed the suit accusing Larkin of molesting them in the 1970s when they were boys. That suit was settled, but like Benas, Larkin remains on administrative leave during an internal investigation.
Thomas was scheduled to come to Sacred Heart on July 1. But when the media storm broke after Benas' arrest, Bishop Patrick J. McGrath asked him to return from Rome early.
Before leaving for Rome, Thomas, who grew up in South San Francisco and who has lived in the Santa Clara Valley since 1978, was a priest at St. Nicholas Parish in Los Altos for 12 years.
Thomas has no answers or quick fixes to the problems that have recently befallen the church. "I think how you deal with this is through transparency and consistent professional pastoral behavior. My agenda is very simple: Love the people of this community and be present to them."
Thomas minces no words when he discusses the scandals and challenges his church, and the Catholic Church as a whole, have faced over the last few years. "It erodes confidence," he said.
But for Thomas, those challenges are not insurmountable. "The biggest challenge in the church today is leadership. Bishops have to act decisively. People are looking for clarity. I think it's not a matter that people don't believe. It's a matter of people having faith in the leadership of the institutional church.
"We are public figures," Thomas continued. "If we are at the pulpit preaching Christ, we have to try to live it."
Thomas estimates between 800 and 900 people come to mass every Sunday at Sacred Heart. He said those numbers used to be bigger, and he hopes those who have left the church will return.
"This is a very resilient parish," he said. "It doesn't need saving. This parish wants a priest to be its shepherd."
When Thomas first took the pulpit at Sacred Heart, he said to his parishioners, "I am not the messiah, but I know you've been waiting for me for a while.
