At least for a while.
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Fresno filed two temporary restraining orders this week that prohibit the outspoken parishioner of Our Lady of Mercy/St. Patrick's Church from coming within 100 yards of the parish.
The civil orders, filed in Merced County Superior Court on Thursday, stem from a Sept. 10 visit to the church's administrative offices. Office workers claim an angry Kravec yelled at them in a threatening manner.
Kravec claimed he gave his unpublished phone number to Bill Lucido, the diocese spokesman in Fresno, a day before a threatening message was left on his answering machine.
In a written statement to the Sun-Star, Kravec said he does not believe the call's timing was coincidental.
Lucido could not be reached for comment Friday.
But court documents filed by the diocese claim Kravec confronted Regina "Jean" Smith, parish administrator, and Walter Szymusiak, parish outreach minister, saying "I will get all of you!" He continued, "I hold you, Mrs. Smith and Walter Szymusiak, responsible if anything should happen to my family," according to the documents.
Kravec acknowledged going to the office to address the threatening phone call, but said he only spoke in a "firm, audible voice."
The restraining orders also ban Kravec from being near Smith's and Szymusiak's homes or contacting them, and he was ordered to turn in his pistol to the Merced County Sheriff's Department -- a common term of a restraining order.
Kravec, a 38-year-old correctional officer, is among a group of St. Patrick's parishioners who fought to have the Rev. Jean-Michael Lastiri removed from the church in July after they found he had been posting gay personal ads on adult Web sites and seeking male companionship, sometimes on church-related trips.
The parishioners worked with an Illinois-based conservative Catholic group, Roman Catholic Faithful, which posted messages on its Web site, including personal ads linked to Lastiri from gay pornographic sites.
The day after stories about the scandal broke, the diocese removed Lastiri from the parish and sent him to St. Luke's in Maryland for spiritual counseling. A new priest will take over Masses in October.
Kravec has continued to question the diocese's decision, the terms of the counseling program -- which have never been disclosed to the public -- and why Lastiri has returned to the area.
The diocese, in response, has said Lastiri has been doing what it asked him to, and that Lastiri himself is back here attending to family needs and re-evaluating his situation.
Lastiri has been seen in the community, which concerns Kravec, who gathered up information about what kind of car Lastiri has been driving, where his car was and who was driving it, and other personal information about the priest.
In a Sept. 17 e-mail to Smith, Kravec questioned why Lastiri was in town and at the administration building after midnight on Sept. 15. The e-mail went on to question Lastiri's travel itinerary to Europe and how a "priest on a modest salary of approximately $1,200 per month could afford such extravagant travel."
He also brought up Lastiri's presence in town on Sept. 10, upon "barging" into Szymusiak's office, the complaint said.
Szymusiak could not be reached for comment Friday evening.
The restraining orders remain in effect until a court hearing scheduled for 8 a.m. Oct. 8.
Violating a restraining order is a misdemeanor, punishable by up to a year in jail and a $1,000 fine.
Reporter David Chircop can be reached at 385-2453 or dchircop@mercedsun-star.com.
