A Catholic priest from a rural parish west of San Antonio is accused in a lawsuit filed Thursday of sexually assaulting a 16-year-old boy at gunpoint and during private catechism sessions two years ago. The suit, which names outgoing Archbishop José Gomez as a defendant and claims he sought to conceal the matter, comes three days after the Vatican named Gomez as the next archbishop in Los Angeles. He is transferring to California next month. Gomez said recently through a spokesman that his five-year tenure involved no new sex-abuse allegations. The suit claims that Father John M. Fiala repeatedly assaulted the youth from January to August 2008 while Fiala was working as administrator at Sacred Heart of Mary in Rocksprings. That’s the county seat of Edwards County, which is about 110 miles west of San Antonio and is part of the Archdiocese of San Antonio. http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/religion/Priest_sued_over_sexual_abuse.html?showFullArticle=y CJsister...You can't possibly be serious. The priest bought this kid a car, and gave him money!! The parents complained many times, yet there is no record of it. That is why the Archbishop was also named as a defendant. The lawsuit describes a relationship between a then-16-year-old and Fiala, starting at a basketball game in 2007. It says Fiala lavished gifts on the boy, including a laptop computer, cell phone, MP3 player, money and later a Chrysler Sebring. He provided alcohol and manipulated the teen into private catechism classes on church grounds where the alleged sexual abuse took place up to twice a month, the suit says. It also claims Fiala gave the teen a ride in a church truck to Big Spring for the teen to visit his girlfriend but stopped at a San Angelo Motel 6. There, he raped the teen at gunpoint in a room and said, “If you tell anyone what happened, I will hurt you and your family,†according to the suit. On other occasions, the priest manipulated the teen into performing oral sex, once by leveraging his gift of a car and another time pulling a revolver on him, according to the suit. The teen eventually ran away from home and attempted suicide, the suit says.
Religion & Spirituality - 7 Answers
Random Answers, Critics, Comments, Opinions :
1 :
Now they just promote them to Pope.
2 :
Noith they havent sayith the pedofilith
3 :
No, they will never stop. I think the heads of the church are probably pedophiles as well.
4 :
Are you serious? That's sick. I thought the Catholic church was going to reform or at least stop transferring pedophiles?
5 :
I don't know if they've stopped the coverups or not. It seems that the hierarchy appears to be trying to avoid/evade their own responsibilities in the matter, and especially the Antipope-Ratzinger. The matter of children who are abused appears to be a side issue to them---they don't attach much importance about the safety and well-being of children. Seems to me that a Pope who cares about children would institute sweeping reforms and changes to protect children from future abuse---but Ratzinger doesn't care about children. Perhaps it's too much to expect a former Hitler Youth to have morals.
6 :
READ people. or wait, innocent until proven guilty is only allowed in the Protestant churches, right? Edwards County Sheriff Donald Letsinger said he was contacted in 2008 by a family member of the teen with an initial claim of interference with child custody, but that it grew into an investigation of sexual abuse. He also said the archdiocese has “been more than helpful†in cooperating with his requests. Fall 2008: Archdiocese receives a complaint of interference in the custody of a minor against Fiala. No allegation of sexual misconduct made. October 2008: Archbishop Gomez informs Fiala’s order about the investigation and suspends Fiala’s abilities to minister within the archdiocese. The parishes are informed of the investigation. Bunch of bigots
7 :
I think they have...nothing in that article indicates that they were intentionally covering anything up. Allegations are not guilt. Priests DO get moved around, allegations or not. Anyone who is a Catholic knows this. We can't become a Communist Surveillance state where moving around is grounds for prosecution Upon first complaints.. The Diocese told the people to take it to the Police, no cover up there. Sheriff's office confirms that they are cooperating with the investigation, no cover up there. The Priest's order has taken him off duty until the allegations can be sorted out. I don't see a lot of "cover up" here... do you? People get named all the time in suits and cases. We can't equate ALL named parties as being guilty. Essentially that seems to be what you are trying to do here. Jump from allegation to guilt. This is the type of emotional, biased, hysteria I see all over the place from Anti-Catholics. They will accept whatever the media says without questioning it and add to it..their own biases and emotional conclusions.
