Do you know this man?

The Most Reverend Joseph N Perry was ordained a priest in 1975. He was later appointed Titular Bishop of Lead, and Auxiliary Bishop of Chicago, in 1998. This is his current position, where he serves as Episcopal Vicar of Vicariate VI.

Earlier this week, I received a Facebook "friend request" from someone claiming to be Bishop Perry. When it was noticed that other mutual FB friends were already on board, the request was accepted. Last night there came a solicitation from "Bishop Perry" for donations to help a girls' orphanage in Africa. You can guess what happened next.

This afternoon, a call was placed to Bishop Perry's office in South Holland, Illinois. The bishop's secretary, Deacon Daniel Ragonese, informed me that this Facebook user is an impostor. The Archdiocese of Chicago has been working with the FBI since he was discovered last May, and the USCCB has already issued memoranda to all bishops concerning the person and their malfeasance, which includes bilking the unsuspected out of roughly fifty thousand dollars to date.

The investigation has been proceeding slowly, so we here at mwbh are calling upon our devoted fans (and you both know who you are) to help. Anyone with information about the fake "Bishop Perry" should pass it along to the real one, through his secretary, at "dragonese at archchicago dot org." They should also block this user immediately.

And today, on this Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary, offer a spiritual bouquet for Bishop Perry, a man who could certainly use a break right about now.
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