NEWS STORY: PENTHOUSE `EXPOSE’: Episcopal priest named in Penthouse expose vows libel suit

c. 1996 Religion News Service (UNDATED) The Rev. Lloyd Andries, an Episcopal priest accused in a recent Penthouse magazine story of participating in homosexual orgies at his Brooklyn, N.Y., church, denied the charges Tuesday (Nov. 5) and said he would file suit against the magazine over the allegations.”I categorically deny the veracity of the article […]

c. 1996 Religion News Service

(UNDATED) The Rev. Lloyd Andries, an Episcopal priest accused in a recent Penthouse magazine story of participating in homosexual orgies at his Brooklyn, N.Y., church, denied the charges Tuesday (Nov. 5) and said he would file suit against the magazine over the allegations.”I categorically deny the veracity of the article which appeared in the December issue of Penthouse magazine,”Andries, rector of St. Gabriel’s Church, said in a statement released by his lawyer, Edgar K. Byham.”It is a tissue of lies and I intend to initiate a lawsuit against the magazine for libel.” The article,”The Boys from Brazil,”by investigative reporter Rudy Maxa, has rocked the 2.5 million-member denomination with its allegations of sexual misconduct at Andries’ church involving illegal immigrants from Brazil, cross-dressing priests, sado-masochism and the wearing of Eucharistic vestments during sexual activities.

Penthouse did not return calls from Religion News Service seeking comment on Andries’ denial, the lawsuit and Andries’ allegation that the two sources for the story were paid, either by Maxa or the magazine.


Byham said that no time frame has been set for filing the suit against Penthouse. The allegations are currently being investigated by Bishop Orris Walker of the Diocese of Long Island of which St. Gabriel’s is a part. Andries said he fully supports the investigation.

Walker announced Andries’ resignation last week. Andries said he resigned”in order to spare the Episcopal Church additional trauma.””Although I am guilty of a serious lapse of judgment in my affections, I emphatically deny any violation of my ordination vows, desecration of holy space, or betrayal of sacred trust,”Andries said.

The Episcopal Church allows its priests to marry. But it has been deeply divided over the issue of homosexuality, especially as it affects the ranks of the priesthood. The church is particularly divided over whether non-celibate gays can be ordained. Earlier this year, a church court acquitted retired Bishop Walter Righter of heresy charges filed against the prelate after he ordained the Rev. Barry Stopfel, a non-celibate gay, as a deacon _ the first step toward priestly orders.

A second priest mentioned in the Penthouse article, the Rev. Howard Williams, resigned his post as head of children’s ministries in the church’s national office. Williams, according to Penthouse, introduced Andries to Jairo Pereira, one of the Brazilians who made allegations of sexual misconduct. Williams, however, was not linked to the sexual allegations.

Church officials said Williams resigned because”just the appearance”of his name in the article made his work as head of children’s ministries”untenable.” In his statement, Andries acknowledged that he and Pereira did have a sexual relationship. He said that he baptized Pereira but,”contrary to Penthouse’s claim, there was no sexual baptism at any time, nor there were orgies that we participated in at any location.”We did solemnize our relationship on April 20, 1996,”the statement added.”For me it was a sincere commitment. In hindsight, it is clear that for Jairo it was not. This event, attended by several close friends of mine, was held in the rectory.”I did not not seek to have this ceremony to in any way mock or ridicule heterosexual marriage,”he added.

Andries, a widower, who lives with his adult daughter, said that two weeks after the ceremony, he entered the hospital for surgery and after his return home discovered that Pereira and a second Brazilian, Wasticlinio Barros, who had also been living at the rectory,”had moved out, taking with them various personal items of mine and the photos which subsequently appeared in the article.” The Penthouse article is illustrated by eight photos of Andries and Pereira, four allegedly taken at the commitment ceremony and four that are sexually explicit.”I certainly unleashed a Pandora’s box,”said Andries.”I repent of my sins. I now realize that I was used by two hustlers. While it is not pretty to acknowledge, it was self-deception to think that a relationship with a 33-year age gap could be truly mutual. Infatuation blinded me to this reality.” The story is based primarily on allegations made to Maxa by Barros, whom Andries described as a guest in his home from October 1994 through April 1995.

Both Barros and Pereira are in the United States illegally, according to Byham, and cannot be found.


In his statement, Andries said he”never had sex with anyone in St. Gabriel’s church, a parish I served as rector for 17 years. … It is truly a sacred space which I would never violate.” He also denied allegations by Maxa that he used cocaine, had sex with other Brazilian men, or dressed as a woman.”I most emphatically deny any desecration of the Blessed Sacrament (Holy Communion) during any sexual act, as the magazine alleges.” KC END ANDERSON

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