I write in response to the June 6 letter to the editor by Gino F. Paluzzi, titled “Defender of the old faith.” As one of the canon lawyers of the Diocese of Greensburg, I would like to clarify some of the comments made by Mr. Paluzzi. It is true that the Rev. Leonard E. Bealko was ordained a priest by Bishop William Connare in 1971. It was also Bishop Connare who revoked his faculties in 1987 so that he could not legally function as a priest. In 1987, Bealko joined the Polish National Catholic Church and was appointed a pastor in Rochester, N.Y. In the last century, the Polish National Catholic Church broke away from the Roman Catholic Church and is not under the authority of the Holy Father. Bealko is not a priest in good standing. He cannot function legally as a priest according to the canon law of the Roman Catholic Church. St. Joseph Chapel, 928 St. Clair Way, is neither a church nor a chapel recognized as Catholic by the Diocese of Greensburg or the Catholic Church. It is not listed in the official directory of Catholic churches and chapels. Mass celebrated at St. Joseph Chapel does not fulfill the precept of Sunday obligation as required by the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church. The Rev. Lawrence T. Persico Greensburg The writer is chancellor of the Diocese of Greensburg .

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