Part I of II
Last week the Pope, Cardinals, Bishops and others gathered in the Vatican to address the horrible abuse inflicted over decades on innocent victims by thousands of priests.
I first became aware of this situation in the ‘90’s when we were living in DFW. A priest in the Dallas diocese – and I’ll never forget his name, Rudy Kos – was convicted on three counts of aggravated sexual assault of a minor, sentenced to life in prison and still is incarcerated. That diocese paid out $24.3 million to eight former altar boys and the relatives of a ninth who claimed they were sexually abused. And he was only the first.
Over the years, the abuse played in the background of my mind, until a few months ago when the Pennsylvania Grand Jury report listed hundreds of clergy accused of sexual misconduct over 70 years. In October, every diocese in Texas announced that on Thursday, January 31, they would disclose the names of all credibly accused priests.
At 2 p.m. that day, I went to the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston website and read the names of 42 priests, none of whom I knew. Then, one from the bottom – under “Recent Allegations currently under investigation” – was the name of our pastor, someone I have worked closely with on many occasions the past two decades.
A little over a week ago, HPD’s Special Victims Division announced it opened a criminal investigation of a Catholic priest after two alleged victims accused him of sexually abusing them years ago.
Next: Conscience Examination
