Accused Priest Drops Lawsuit Against Saint Vincent College

A priest who was punished by Saint Vincent College for allegedly violating its policies by downloading pornography onto a computer in his office -- but who was cleared of that accusation -- has dropped a lawsuit he filed in September accusing officials of the college and its Roman Catholic archabbey of defaming him. The Rev. Mark Gruber's decision to drop the lawsuit, days after he gave a sworn deposition, prompted Archabbot Douglas R. Nowicki -- whom Gruber had accused of conspiring with Saint Vincent's former president, James L. Towey, to manufacture the charges against him -- to issue a statement welcoming Father Mark's "unilateral dismissal" and suggesting that it was proof that the priest "finally had to confront his egregious misconduct.... It has now become apparent that Father Gruber has misled many people and has caused significant harm in our academic and religious communities." The archabbot said that Saint Vincent would continue to push for Father Mark's ouster as a priest through proceedings in the Vatican. Neither the priest nor his lawyer could be reached for comment. Inside Higher Ed reported in September that another employee had told both Father Mark and Saint Vincent officials that he, and not the priest, had downloaded the pornography, and several people close to Father Mark told the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review Thursday that he had dropped the lawsuit to protect the sanctity of the confession made to him by the other employee.