Galveston-Houston diocese reports 46 abuse victims

The Houston Chronicle ^ | 1/27/2004 | TARA DOOLEY

[Land of the Irish]

22 priests, 4 deacons blamed

By TARA DOOLEY

Copyright 2004 Houston Chronicle Religion Writer

Twenty-two priests and four deacons sexually abused 46 minors in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Galveston-Houston over the past 53 years, according to church officials.

Eighty percent of the abuse occurred before 1980 but was reported in the past 10 years. The confirmed sex abuse allegations cost the diocese $3.6 million in settlements, counseling and legal fees.

The numbers were released in a letter from Bishop Joseph A. Fiorenza published in the recent edition of The Texas Catholic Herald, the diocesan newspaper.

"It is a very sad part of our history that I deeply regret," Fiorenza said Monday. "Even if it were just one person I would be very sad."

Diocese officials collected the numbers as part of a nationwide study meant to assess the scope of clergy sex abuse in the American church over the past five decades. The study is being conducted by the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York City and will be released Feb. 27. It was commissioned by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' National Review Board.

Local bishops are not required to release their numbers, said William Burleigh, a retired journalist from Ohio who sits the board. He commended that they do so.

"The bishops are trying to be as open as and candid as possible," Burleigh said. "They know that when the national study is announced, there will be that obvious local question."

David Clohessy, executive director of the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests, or SNAP, said Catholics should look at the numbers with "a great deal of skepticism," because they are self-reported, he said.

"This is not an investigation or a study," Clohessy said. "It is a survey done of the very same men who for the most part got us into this mess in the first place."

Miguel Prats, a co-founder of Houston SNAP, said he does not think Galveston-Houston has an egregious history of sex abuse. But he believes the reported numbers might be low because sex abuse victims do not always come forward. His group has heard from people who have not reported their complaints.

"We've talked to them," Prats said. "They will call us once or twice but they are scared. They are still living the fright they experienced 30, 40 or 50 years ago."

The Houston-Galveston figures count allegations considered credible after investigations. The bishop's letter did not mention how many unsubstantiated allegations had been made.

Fiorenza declined Monday to release the names of the priests and deacons who molested minors or provide details of where the incidents occurred. His letter said that the 22 priests had died, resigned from the priesthood or were removed from active ministry. The four deacons were also out of ministry.

Fiorenza's letter said the molesting priests made up 0.96 percent of the 2,285 priests -- including diocesan and religious order priests -- who have served the diocese since 1950. The four permanent deacons, ordained men who serve the church but are allowed to marry, account for 0.98 percent of the 410 deacons who have served since 1972.

Until 1966, the Diocese of Beaumont and counties in the dioceses of Victoria and Tyler were part of the Galveston-Houston diocese. They are included in the report.

Of the $3.6 million paid by the diocese, $1.8 million was covered by insurance and insurance reserves, Fiorenza's letter said.

The Dallas diocese is among those that have released numbers in advance. Forty-eight victims leveled credible allegations against 15 priests and one deacon, 1.4 percent of that diocese's clergy, the Dallas Morning News reported earlier this month. That diocese paid out $39.1 million, an amount that includes payments to multiple victims of former priest Rudy Kos, who is serving a life prison sentence for sexual abuse.

Bishop Daniel N. DiNardo, who will soon leave Sioux City, Iowa, to take on duties as coadjutor bishop in Galveston-Houston, reported his diocese had 33 allegations of abuse against 10 priests. The Sioux City Diocese paid $235,061 on settlements, treatment and counseling for victims and priests.

The Diocese of Orange County, Calif., released its statistical data earlier this month, along with the names of the priests accused of abuse during the past 30 years, said its spokesman, the Rev. Joe Fenton. Its report included 16 priests and 47 victims since the diocese's creation in 1976.

Knowing the numbers may help Catholics alarmed by the sex abuse scandal that became public in January 2002 with newspaper stories in Boston and spread throughout the country, said Ed Houser, a philosophy professor at the University of St. Thomas in Houston.

"This has been a public embarrassment and part of the process of getting over this is finding out what sort of problem this has been nationwide but also here," said Houser, who organized a series of panel discussions on the scandal at the Catholic university in 2002.

"These facts, of course, don't get to the underlying causes of the problem and I certainly hope that our bishop as well as the other bishops are trying to do something about the causes," Houser added.

Since the scandal became national news, American bishops have instituted rules to combat abuse and remove molesting priests from parishes. Earlier this month, the bishops' Office of Child and Youth Protection published a survey showing that most dioceses, including Galveston-Houston, were complying with the new rules.

Releasing the numbers does not mean that the problem can be shelved in the history category, Fiorenza said Monday.

"This is an ongoing effort," he said. "We can't say this is over. We have to continue with our very best efforts."

Chronicle reporter Andrew Tilghman contributed to this story.

[Land of the Irish]

Ping

[Polycarp IV]

Since the Scriptures are emphatic and adamant that all forms of sexual perversion including homosexuality and pedophilia are immoral and abominable, official RCC endorsement of the spiritually-healthy Principle of Sola Scriptura would be

Since sin is bad, Roman Catholicism should adopt an unscriptural heresy regarding scriptural interpretation?

I'm sure that will help.

Thanks for playing, but...

That's right Al--you lost! And let me tell what you didn't win: a twenty-volume set of the Encyclopedia International, a case of Turtle Wax, and a year's supply of Rice-a-Roni, the San Francisco treat. But that's not all! You also made yourself look like a jerk in front of millions of people! And you brought shame and disgrace on your family name for generations to come! You don't get to come back tomorrow! You don't even get a lousy copy of our home game! You're a complete loser!!

[Romulus]

logical Principle of Sola Scriptura.

Richly comic -- and on so many levels, too.

[Polycarp IV]

Please do not ping me to your continued attacks on Christ's Church. We have no common ground upon which to dialogue.

You sound like The_Doc.

[Polycarp IV]

I advise you to read this thread, GOOD NEWS - BAD NEWS (Don't Say You Weren't Warned), prior to further involvement in the Religion Forum. It has done much to help iron out how we should interact with our fellow Christians on this Religion Forum. God Bless.

[MarMema]

But maybe you're happy to wallow in such a mess

Actually think about the courage and determination it has taken for them to stand upright and claim their church. We should applaud them for their persistence and devotion in the face of such serious evil among some of their leadership. And we should also pray for them to have a holy and worthy church. One that is worthy of the RC posters here, that is.

May God hear my prayer.

[Polycarp IV]

Actually think about the courage and determination it has taken for them to stand upright and claim their church. We should applaud them for their persistence and devotion in the face of such serious evil among some of their leadership. And we should also pray for them to have a holy and worthy church. One that is worthy of the RC posters here, that is.

You are a gem, MarMema. God Bless you.

[MarMema]

I like fossils. :-)

[BlackElk]

And may God bless you ma'am and yours as well.

[dsc]

I really don't see how people can think "there's no * necessity * or need to "interpret" the Scriptures," then go to Sunday School or a Bible study group whose purpose is to explain the meaning of the scriptures.

Or maybe I'm just dense. Maybe every scripture is just crystal clear on first reading to everyone else, and I'm the only one who has had to struggle with many of them.

[ardara]

Who made the decision to go back so many years? Is there any precedent for this? How can the unconvited deceased priests defend themselves?

[Dominican]

"Or maybe I'm just dense. Maybe every scripture is just crystal clear on first reading to everyone else, and I'm the only one who has had to struggle with many of them."

Jesus Christ teaches that the Holy Spirit of God will lead God's people into all truth - John 16:13.
Are you in a genuine personal relationship with Jesus Christ? If not, this is certainly the major reason for your difficulty in understanding the Bible.

[dsc]

I've seen enough people in a genuine personal relationship with Jesus Christ misunderstand scriptures to know that it takes more than that.

It can happen that the Holy Spirit comes upon one, the Bible becomes a living thing, and reading it is a two-way interaction in which the reader is more passive than the Book.

However, that is a mystical experience, and rare.

[Dominican]

“I've seen enough people in a genuine personal relationship with Jesus Christ misunderstand scriptures to know that it takes more than that.”

Perhaps you only * assumed * that the people you saw were in a genuine personal relationship with Jesus Christ, for how could you as a third party, ever know that such a relationship was in fact authentic?

Although the Holy Spirit can come upon a person as you’ve mentioned, He indwells all who are in a genuine relationship with Christ and He leads them into all of the Truth, as Jesus promised He would in Gospel of John 16:13. This is no rarefied “mystical” event but it’s a practical everyday reality for Christ's people.

[Salvation]

**Dominican
Since Feb 2, 2004**

Welcome to FR!

[Salvation]

**Actually think about the courage and determination it has taken for them to stand upright and claim their church. We should applaud them for their persistence and devotion in the face of such serious evil among some of their leadership. And we should also pray for them to have a holy and worthy church. One that is worthy of the RC posters here, that is.

May God hear my prayer.**

From your lips (and mine) to God's ears!

Wonderful comment.

[Campion]

Since there's no * necessity * or need to "interpret" the Scriptures

That's true. In fact, you can leave them on the bookshelf, and you'll never need to interpret them.

However, the instant you take them down and start reading, the interpretative process has begun, whether you want to admit it or not.