Posted on 07/10/2018 4:44:34 PM PDT by ebb tide
METAIRIE, La. (ChurchMilitant.com) - A Louisiana parish was up till last month still allowing a former deacon accused of multiple counts of sex abuse to serve as lector — despite the archdiocese paying out a $500,000 settlement on his behalf.
In May, the archdiocese of New Orleans paid out half a million dollars to settle an abuse claim against George Brignac, a former deacon and teacher from Holy Rosary School. Brignac was accused of grooming and raping a young boy numerous times, starting in 1979 when the victim was 8 years old.
The lawsuit was only filed this year because the victim claimed he repressed the abuse until a chance meeting with Brignac and the boy's mother in a grocery store last year.
Despite this settlement, Brignac was allowed to serve as a lector at St. Mary Magdalen in Metairie, Louisiana for "several years." Church Militant contacted the parish but was told Fr. Chris DeLerno, the pastor, was on retreat and would not be available for a week.
In a statement, Abp. Gregory Aymond said, "I was utterly surprised and terribly disappointed when I found out that several years ago a priest had given Mr. Brignac permission to serve as lector."
Aymond acknowledged that the priest knew Brignac was removed from the diaconate and "should never have granted this permission."
"As soon as I was notified Mr. Brignac was serving as a lector, I took immediate action, and he will no longer serve in that capacity anywhere in the archdiocese of New Orleans," Aymond said.
Sarah McDonald, director of communications for the archdiocese, noted Brignac was informed he could no longer serve as lector by June 25.
In an interview with The New Orleans Advocate, Brignac said Fr. DeLerno, pastor of St. Mary Magdalen, allowed him to be a lector when he knew he was removed from active ministry in 1988. Brignac claims, "They asked me if I could read at Mass," adding, "I didn't do anything other than that."
In that interview, Brignac said, "I'm not going to deny that I have touched a child," explaining, "I would not have gone into teaching if I were not attracted to children."
Insisting he didn't do it for "immoral purposes," he claimed that a psychologist he saw years ago determined it was "asexual."
"Any actions of intimacy between my students and me — and family and me, have no sexual motive," Brignac said.
This is not the first allegation for Brignac, who faced two other charges of sexual misconduct with at least six other pre-pubescent boys. He was investigated in 1977 while he was at Jefferson Parish and again in 1988 in Orleans Parish. Neither investigation resulted in a conviction or any action from the archdiocese.
Brignac even admitted his misconduct to St. Matthew's school officials Fr. John Bendix and Sr. Agnes Laborde, but they determined his actions were only a "weak moment" and Brignac promised "it would never happen again."
I expect that even more victims are going to come forward.Tweet
Months passed without action from the archdiocese until the Sheriff's Office finally arrested Brignac in 1977 and charged him with three counts of indecent behavior with a juvenile. Judge Fred Bowes acquitted him of the charges after Brignac's defense attorney claimed the boys' testimony was a conspiracy to use Brignac's self-enforced celibacy "with our present preoccupation with the concept that any physical contact with a youngster is sexually motivated and is therefore a molestation."
One of the boys testified that he saw Brignac rubbing more than one boy's "weenies."
George Brignac in a yearbook
photo from the 1980s
A mother of one of those boys told The Advocate she believed the verdict was "preordained," saying, "I don't know of any other trials in which you have clergy come into the courtroom in complete regalia and go into the judge's chambers."
One of Brignac's later allegations in 1980 was investigated by New Orleans police detective Stanley C. Burkhardt — a convicted pedophile, who was deemed "sexually dangerous" for his actions in distributing child pornography featuring young boys. He also plead guilty to molesting a 9-year-old family member but was not given any additional prison time. Burkhardt was released to a halfway house in 2015.
That investigation resulted in Brignac's second arrest for molestation, with the charges of indecent behavior with a juvenile and contributing to the delinquency of a juvenile, but it was never prosecuted. Burkhardt's report on the case noted that the archdiocese of New Orleans gave him the runaround but that he eventually determined "no sexual contact has ever occurred" between Brignac and his other students.
The archdiocese eventually removed Brignac from the diaconate ministry in 1988 after he was accused of fondling a 7-year-old boy. Despite prosecutors attempting to prove a clear pattern of predation, the state dismissed the charges after the parents refused to go forward with the case. The then-archbishop of New Orleans, Philip Hannan, removed Brignac from ministry without listing a reason in the archdiocese's records.
Brignac claims the recent press has "ruined" his life. He said the allegations are a "misinterpretation of my conduct" and he wishes everyone would "let this die."
Roger Stetter, an attorney representing five other alleged victims, plans to meet with New Orleans police to discuss additional charges. While some of the abuse may be outside of the statute of limitations, child rape is not.
"I expect that even more victims are going to come forward," Stetter said.
At the core of homosexuality is the vile molestation and imprinting of young boys. The Church must purge all homosexuals from the clergy, make celibacy optional as to allow more normal heterosexuals to enter the priesthood and disband the Jesuit order. The Jesuit order has devolved, into an unspeakable cabal and cannot be trusted with young boys. Homosexuality is an abomination and its tolerance in the name of love the sinner, hate the sin has led to grave harm to individuals and the Church itself. Tolerance is overrated. Judgment is needed.
Making celibacy optional is not a cure-all for homosexuals in the church. Most active homosexuals laugh at the idea of celibacy. They already have a cabal going and it’s going strong.
Get rid of the homos: seminarians, rectors, priests, bishops and Cardinals, and solid virile heterosexual men will fill their shoes.
It was incredible to watch how quickly the recent news story about the former top Church representative (Cardinal of Washington DC) disappeared from the news; in fact, I was shocked it was reported at all - because it went against the lie that homosexual men and child molesters are mutually exclusive groups. In fact, there is a huge overlap, and it was a classic case: a substantiated claim of abuse of minor decades ago, and more recently settlements paid to two adult victims.
Rod Dreher was hearing stuff about it for years (this is true of other journalists as well) and couldn't get anyone to do more than tell awful stories on a "don't use my name" basis: and of course a journalist can't run with pages of anonymous allegations.
This was often young men whom McCarrick had sexually exploited, who wouldn't talk.
And McCarrick had enough decades in the upper hierarchy to promote, protect, and network with many other sick, conscienceless perverts like himself. And they're still there.
Most normal virile heterosexuals will not become priests if they must remain celibate. Time to make celibacy optional so that normal heterosexuals would consider the priesthood. Its a given that homosexuals in the priesthood mock celibacy.
Pure BS. Heaven is filled with virile celibate priests, some of them martyrs. You do them shame.
Change the word most for many and stand by the post. However your point is well taken.
I would go with making the discipline generally optional if I didn’t think that would just lead to other things. That is why the most pro-homosexual factions of the Church want the discipline ended. The Jesuits and other libs aren’t screaming that the discipline is valuable and should continue. The exact opposite is true. Try to find one pro-abort, pro- ‘gay marriage’ pro-priestess that thinks the discipline is valuable and should continue.
The married Catholic clergy that exist now have expressed that they think the discipline is valuable and should continue, at least that I have read.
Freegards
This guy was not a priest, hevwas a deacon, a lay official of the church and under no restriction on marriage
What is it with the Catholic church and child molesters? Good grief!
What does homosexual abuse have to do with “marriage”?
Partially true. A permanent deacon is an ordained clergyman in the Church, not a layman. And deacons have some restrictions on marriage. If single at the time of ordination, they take the same vow of celibacy as a priest. If married at the time of ordination, they take the vow to not remarry should their wife die.
The question is becoming do they want to get rid of the homos?
I agree that the guy is an abomination on all levels, but for clarity I’ll add that Catholic deacons are indeed ordained (sacrament of Holy Orders) and are clergy, not laity.
Sorry for the redundancy. Didn’t see your post.
True - but having the celibacy deal encourages those with odd views to enter priesthood....allow heterosexual family men to be priests and 95% of the problem gets solved.
Yes, it is reminiscent of our “gay governor” McGreevey, who got married to hide it. When he finally came out, it surprised nobody - except apparently his wife.
It makes all of McCarrick’s actions - and appointments - suspect; at least we know why Dems reliably carry the “Catholic” states...
The same thing with scout leaders, teachers, and coaches - it is the position of authority to which the child rapists are drawn. Other religious denominations have the same problems, and have indicated to the Church that allowing married men doesn’t address the problem.
A deacon receives the Sacrament of Holy Orders and is ordained, and is therefore a clergyman.
If a deacon is married at the time of ordination, he remains married; but does not remarry if his wife passes away: a widowed deacon must remain unmarried. Also if he is unmarried at the time of ordination, he must remain unmarried (celibate.)
Formerly,the Catholic Church had "Major Orders" (bishop, priest and deacon/subdeacon) and "Minor Orders" (acolyte, exorcist, lector and porter/usher.)
In 1972, the minor orders were renamed "ministries" and are now carried out by laypeople, both men and women: now it's just lector, acolyte and usher.
Exorcist is a special, rarer role with extensive specialized training. I don't think all dioceses have an official exorcist, but Pope Francis is encouraging the expansion of the Order of Exorcists. I believe an exorcist is always a priest.
Traditionalist Catholics who use the 1962 Roman Missal still observe the traditional Major Orders (considered clergy) and Minor Orders (considered laity). I'm thinking maybe Eastern Rite Catholics do too (??)
That's the basic outline, but I may be a little fuzzy on the details. It's shifted a bit over the last century.
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