Ex-priest on List of ‘credible Allegations’ of Sexual Abuse of Minor

Gainesville Times
November 7, 2018

https://www.gainesvilletimes.com/news/ex-priest-on-list-of-credible-allegations-of-sexual-abuse-of-minor/

A priest who worked at St. Michael’s Catholic Church in Gainesville for roughly six years is on a list released by the Archdiocese of Atlanta regarding members of the clergy “credibly accused of sexual abuse of a minor.”

The archdiocese released the list Tuesday, Nov. 6, and included 15 names of “priests, deacons, seminarians” and others affiliated with the Atlanta diocese since its establishment in 1956.

On the list is Jorge Cristancho, who was ordained in May 1978. Under his places of service, St. Michael’s appears from 1996-2001. In 2001, he served at St. George Catholic Church in Newnan.

Cristancho was permanently removed from the ministry in 2003.

A second priest, Stanley Dominic Idziak, was listed as having been at a St. Michael’s church in the mid-1980s, but no specific church was denoted. There are several St. Michael’s Catholic churches across the state.

The letter said Idziak was permanently removed from ministry in 1992 and died in 2017.

No other information was provided.

The Gainesville church did not return multiple calls from The Times.

Gainesville Police and the Northeastern Judicial Circuit District Attorney’s Office did not have any information regarding the situation.

The archdiocese’s director of communications Paula Gwynn Grant did not immediately answer an email with questions from The Times.

“Along with the publication of this information, I also renew my apology for the damage that young lives have suffered and the profound sorrow and anger that our families have endured. It is a response in faith that must accompany this listing,” wrote Archbishop of Atlanta Wilton D. Gregory in a letter appended to the list.

According to the letter, the list was compiled by “the Archdiocesan Review Board, which is composed of members who are laypersons and not in the employ of the archdiocese.”