TEXAS
Religion News Service
David Gibson | March 15, 2016
(RNS) The Rev. Virgilio Elizondo, a Mexican-American Catholic priest described as “the father of U.S. Latino religious thought,” has died of unknown causes nearly a year after he was accused in a lawsuit of sexually abusing a boy 30 years ago.
Elizondo, a native of San Antonio who taught at the University of Notre Dame, was found dead in San Antonio Monday morning, according to authorities and media reports.
No cause of death was given though a longtime friend and administrative assistant, Janie Dillard, told the San Antonio Express-News that the priest, who was 80, “died of a broken heart.”
Another report on Tuesday (March 15) cited church sources saying Elizondo had died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
San Antonio Archbishop Gustavo García-Siller said in a statement that he was “stunned by the news” of Elizondo’s death, which he said was “an occasion for great sorrow, as his death was sudden and unexpected.”
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