TEXAS
New York Daily News
BY TOBIAS SALINGER NEW YORK DAILY NEWS Tuesday, April 12, 2016
A celebrated Texas priest confessed to sins in his suicide note but didn’t admit anything about the allegation he molested a boy who asked for his help 33 years ago.
Lawyers for an anonymous man suing Father Virgilio Elizondo, another priest and officials with their archdiocese released the typewritten one-page note Monday, the San Antonio Express-News reported. The San Antonio Police Department confirmed it provided the lawyers with the note found on the scene after Elizondo, 80, shot himself in the head March 14.
“How can I best be of service? At this time it is by offering my life as a final gift,” the note said. “I freely choose my moment and way of giving life to others. This is not a suicide but a farewell gift. I pray that the gift of my life may bring healing to anyone that I might have hurt.”
The note continued, “To anyone whom I have ever offended, I beg your forgiveness and mercy. It was never my intention to hurt anyone. My greatest pain is that I have hurt others, especially those I love the most. I am a sinner in need of forgiveness and mercy.”
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