Posted on 09/12/2018 12:53:22 PM PDT by Snickering Hound
HOUSTON (AP) As U.S. Catholic leaders head to the Vatican to meet with Pope Francis about a growing church abuse crisis, the cardinal leading the delegation has been accused by two people of not doing enough to stop a priest who was arrested this week on sexual abuse charges.
The two people told The Associated Press that they reported the priest and met with Cardinal Daniel DiNardo of the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston.
One of them says she was promised in a meeting with DiNardo, several years after she first reported abuse, that the priest would be removed from any contact with children, only to discover that the priest remained in active ministry at another parish 70 miles away.
The priest, Manuel LaRosa-Lopez, was arrested Tuesday by police in Conroe, Texas. Both people who spoke to the AP are cooperating with police.
LaRosa-Lopez, 60, is accused of fondling both people when they were teenagers and he was a priest at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Conroe.
He is charged with four counts of indecency with a child. Each count carries a maximum possible sentence of 20 years in prison.
LaRosa-Lopez is now the pastor at St. John Fisher Catholic Church in Richmond.
He is also the archdiocese's episcopal vicar for Hispanics.
The archdiocese issued a statement Wednesday confirming that both people had come forward to report abuse by LaRosa-Lopez, one of them in 2001.
The archdiocese said it reported both allegations to the state Child Protective Services, and said it was unaware of any other "allegations of inappropriate conduct involving minors" against the priest.
A spokesman for CPS on Wednesday could not immediately confirm if the reports had been made. LaRosa-Lopez did not immediately return a phone message left Wednesday.
(Excerpt) Read more at chron.com ...
That headline gives me a headache.
Cardinal accused of ignoring abuse meeting with Pope accused of ignoring abuse..............
Cripe. They wont even let him draw a deep breath before they accuse. People are just out of control.
That's nice, it's always good to have something in common with people you're meeting to help break the ice.
....”People are just out of control”....
Likley it’s people are fed up their house remains filthy...feather dusting isn’t workable for this.
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