FORT WORTH (TX)
Fort Worth Star-Telegram
Editorial
The financial costs of the child sex abuse scandal that has rocked the Catholic Church for a decade continue to climb, including legal settlement costs for the Diocese of Fort Worth.
But at least there are indications that the church and the local diocese have passed through the worst of the storm. Credit that to a strong program to prevent abuse from happening again and to vigilant pursuit of that program.
Bishop Kevin Vann, leader of the Diocese of Fort Worth since 2005, announced a settlement agreement Thursday with a man known publicly only as Doe 26, who was a 9-year-old altar boy at St. Maria Goretti Catholic Church in 1978 and was abused by Monsignor James Reilly. He is the 26th person to come forward to accuse Reilly.
Dallas attorney Tahira Khan Merritt has said she is still working on the case of a 27th Reilly accuser. Reilly, who was assigned to St. Maria Goretti from 1969 to 1987, retired in 1987, moved to Philadelphia and died in 1999.
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