SAN DIEGO (CA)
Union Tribune
December 18, 2018
By Peter Rowe Encinitas
At least three women say the former associate pastor of St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church in Encinitas tried to seduce them.
The allegations rocked the congregation Sunday, Dec. 16, when parishioners opened the church bulletin to find an apology from Bishop Robert McElroy “to all who were subjected to this terrible mistreatment…
“There is no room in the Church or the priesthood for this reprehensible type of misconduct,” McElroy wrote.
This message was a startling departure from the usual church bulletin fare, such as the Christmas Mass schedule and a notice about an upcoming marriage encounter retreat. McElroy, who this fall held a series of “listening sessions” for churchgoers disturbed by an ongoing clergy sexual abuse crisis, has preached the need to be more open about these scandals.
The Rev. Ben Vincent Awongo, 55, left St. John’s on Sept. 1 after the diocese received the second allegation. The first was anonymous and its author could not be found. The second came in August, and led to Awongo’s dismissal.
A member of the Missionary Order of the Apostles of Jesus, a group composed primarily of African priests, Awongo was born in Uganda. He had been working in the San Diego diocese since December 2014.
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