LONDON (ENGLAND)
Catholic Herald
June 6, 2019
By Christopher Altieri
Cardinal Daniel DiNardo, the president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops and Archbishop of Galveston-Houston, is facing renewed public scrutiny after the Associated Press published a report on Tuesday, detailing accusations that DiNardo mishandled an allegation of sexual misconduct against a high-ranking priest in his archdiocese.
The Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston released a statement on Tuesday saying it “categorically rejects” the AP story, which the statement describes as “unprofessional, one-sided reporting”. “At each step in this matter,” the statement continues, “Cardinal DiNardo has reacted swiftly and justly — and has always kept the welfare of the Pontikeses in mind.” The Tuesday statement from the archdiocese also says, “A number of the quotes attributed to the Cardinal are an absolute fabrication.”
The story comes just a week before the US bishops’ spring meeting, at which they are slated to debate and vote on accountability measures for bishops. The news also has possible repercussions for Rome and Pope Francis, as it raises questions about how the new universal procedural norms for reporting and investigating allegations of abuse and cover-up will work.
Texas authorities, meanwhile, are investigating the accused priest, Galveston-Houston’s former vicar general, Mgr Frank Rossi, in connection with the complaint detailed in the AP story. Alessandro Gisotti, director of the Holy See Press Office, confirmed for the Catholic Herald that a complaint was received by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, is currently under review.
Laura Pontikes, 55, claims Mgr Rossi “seduced” her during the course of protracted spiritual counselling. She alleges that he induced her to perform sex acts during their counselling sessions, and that they had sexual intercourse on numerous occasions. AP reports that the archdiocese stated that it believed the relationship was consensual, and that it did not involve sexual intercourse.
The archdiocese sent Mgr Rossi for evaluation and treatment, and eventually released him to the diocese of Beaumont, Texas, where Mgr Rossi received an assignment from Bishop Curtis Guillory as pastor of a parish in the town of Woodville, Our Lady of the Pines.
Mgr Rossi was also a family confidant to whom Laura Pontikes’ husband, George, also allegedly turned for counsel in moments of distress — during the time Rossi was allegedly carrying on his inappropriate relationship with Mrs Pontikes. Mgr Rossi also allegedly convinced the couple to give more than $2 million to the Church over a period of nine years.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.