PENNSYLVANIA
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
By Peter Smith / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
EBENSBURG — The ancient Scriptural text took on poignant meaning as they were read aloud Wednesday morning at the funeral Mass of Brian Gergely, a longtime advocate for victims of clergy sexual abuse who took his own life on Friday.
“The souls of the just are in the hands of God, and no torment shall touch them,” said one reader, reciting from the Book of Wisdom. “… They are at peace.”
In his funeral homily, the Rev. David Lockard paid tirbute to Mr. Gergely, who worked with those with mental illness and disabilities, as an advocate and counselor.
“Certainly Brian was a just man,” said Father Lockard. “He is now in the hands of God.”
Mr. Gergely, 46, who was from this Cambria County seat, was memorialized at Holy Name Catholic Parish, in the same church where decades earlier he and many other altar boys were sexually assaulted by the late Monsignor Francis McCaa.
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