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  Priest Removed Pending Inquiry

By Darren Barbee
Ft. Worth Star-Telegram
September 1, 2005

Denton - The Rev. Daniel A. Triulzi, a priest of the Marianist order, has been removed from St. Mark Catholic Church in Denton pending an investigation of sexual abuse allegations in St. Louis.

Last week, an Indiana man filed a lawsuit against Triulzi, the religious order and a Missouri prep school saying that the priest abused him in the late 1990s when he was a minor. One of the man's attorneys, Ken Chackes of St. Louis, said Triulzi gave his client expensive gifts, including a car, to buy his silence.

Triulzi could not be reached for comment late Wednesday. Triulzi taught at Nolan Catholic High School in Fort Worth from 1983 to 1987, according to a Fort Worth Roman Catholic Diocese statement. He serves as associate pastor at St. Mark.

Diane Guerra, spokeswoman for the Marianist Province of the United States, said Wednesday that Triulzi was on his way to St. Louis to meet with officials of the order.

Guerra said officials have not "spoken officially" with Triulzi, who was removed from his Denton church in accordance with the order's sexual misconduct policy.

"We are just beginning our investigation," she said.

In a statement released by the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, the Indiana man said he wants the church to be held accountable. In his lawsuit, the man said he recovered memories this month of several instances of abuse. He also accuses the religious order and Chaminade College Preparatory School in St. Louis, where Triulzi taught, of covering up the abuse.

Chackes said he was unsure whether his client has filed a criminal report.

The Rev. Ralph Siefert, Chaminade's president, told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch last week that he was not aware of any allegations or complaints against Triulzi.

"I have never heard anything that would even make me suspicious," he was quoted as saying.

ONLINE: www.fwdioc.org

Staff writer Leila Fadel contributed to this report.

 
 

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