Texas Catholic dioceses expected to release names of clergy accused of sexual abuse
HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- The 15 Catholic dioceses in Texas will release the names of clergy accused of sexually abusing a minor from 1950 until present.
During a meeting in Austin, the Texas bishops agreed to jointly release the names as part of an "ongoing work to protect children from sexual abuse and promote healing and a restoration of trust in the Church."
"This is an action in response to the faithful's call for greater accountability and transparency. Every bishop in our state has made a statement expressing his concern for all who have been hurt, and I want to express my personal sorrow at such fundamental violations of trust that have happened. We are completely committed to eradicating the evil of sexual abuse in the church and promoting healing among the faithful and those injured by this crime," said Cardinal Daniel DiNardo, archbishop of Galveston-Houston.
Houstonian Michael Norris was abused by a priest at summer camp. He'd like to see the church give over control of its investigation to the attorney general's office. He works with SNAP, Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests.
"I think it's a great first step, but I don't think it gets us all the way there," he told Eyewitness News.
"Who determines credibility. I don't trust the church to determine credibility. And I have a little bit of passion about that because they said my case wasn't credible. And yet in front of a jury, this man was found guilty and is in prison now, " said Norris.
The news from the church comes after we learned about alleged abuse at the hands of local priest Manuel LaRosa-Lopez.
LaRosa-Lopez is charged now in Montgomery County after the alleged victims said the church didn't do enough to stop the abuse. It came at the same time DiNardo was at the Vatican meeting with the Pope about the ongoing scandal.
Dinardo said in his message today, the church will do better.
All dioceses are expected to release the names by Jan. 31, 2019, according to the release.
The 15 dioceses participating in the project are Galveston-Houston, San Antonio, Austin, Amarillo, Beaumont, Brownsville, Corpus Christi, Dallas, El Paso, Fort Worth, Laredo, Lubbock, San Angelo, Tyler and Victoria.
