Ron Cassie, The Examiner
2007-06-25 07:00:00.0
Current rank: # 4,209 of 5,093

BALTIMORE -

The alleged affair between a priest and a former admissions director at an all-girls Catholic high school has shaken the Catonsville Catholic community.

The story first broke in February when the alleged affair became part of a divorce lawsuit filed by Mark Breidenstein.

Charyl Breidenstein, according to documents obtained by The Examiner, was fired from Mount de Sales Academy in a letter dated Sept. 13, while on leave and seeking treatment for severe depression at Sheppard Pratt Hospital, shortly after the allegations came to light.

Fell continued to teach religion and serve as school chaplain at the Baltimore County school until the Archdiocese of Baltimore asked him to resign in October because a second woman made similar “credible” allegations of a previous affair.

Numerous Mount de Sales parents and St. Agnes church members stepped forward with phone calls, e-mails and letters to the editor at The Examiner testifying to Fell’s character and the integrity of his Catholic ministry after the alleged affairs became public.

Last fall, the Archdiocese sent Fell to the St. Luke’s Center in Silver Spring for his own weeklong mental health evaluation.

It was then determined he should return to St. Agnes on Old Frederick Road, work under supervision and receive additional counseling.

The school eventually sent a letter home to Mount de Sales parents acknowledging the controversy.

The archdiocese made a statement to the St. Agnes parish regarding the matter in a Sunday church bulletin, but did not explicitly support Fell, who denied the affairs, or Breidenstein.

In April, Baltimore County police were called to the school following a confrontation between estranged husband Mark Breidenstein and the Rev. Leo Patalinghug of Westminster, a friend of Fell’s.

Patalinghug was charged with assault.