Theatine Fathers – CR - BishopAccountability.org

4 Accused in This Religious Order

Fr. Lucas A. Galvan

Order: CR
Ordained: 1980
Status: Convicted

Full name Lucas Antonia Galvan Valdez. Pleaded guilty in 1989 to sexually fondling an 11-year-old girl; sentenced to 1- or 2- year suspended jail sentence and deferred adjudication. Sent to Via Coeli in NM for treatment. Charges then dismissed. Girl settled a lawsuit against the Pueblo diocese for more than $90K. Reportedly through the international Theatine Fathers, Galvan was able to move to Buenos Aires, Argentina in 1992 before finding sanctuary in Mexico City. He moved to the Archdiocese of Mexico City in 1997 where the bishop was aware of his conviction. Still active there until removed from ministry in Mexico City 4/22/2010, after a Mexican magazine publicized the case. Apparently allowed to work in other Mexico dioceses. On the Las Cruces diocese's list 6/24/2019, where he worked in 1991.

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Fr. Marshall Gourley

Order: CR
Ordained: 1982
Status: Sued

Diocese: Archdiocese of Denver CO

Accused in a 9/1997 civil suit of abusing a teenage boy in 1981-1984 at Our Lady of Guadalupe Church. The alleged victim testified that he reported the abuse to church authorities in the early 1980s. Gourley was placed on leave in 10/1997. The civil case was dismissed in 1998 due to the statute of limitations. Plaintiff appealed; case dismissed in 1999. In 2002 Gourley was working in the medical technology filed, traveling on business between the U.S. and Mexico. A suit filed in 8/2022 claims Gourley sexually abused a girl, ages 7-11, at Our Lady of Guadalupe.

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Fr. Mark N. Matson

Order: CR
Ordained: 1976
Status: Convicted

Diocese: Archdiocese of Denver CO

Accused of abuse of two in CO in 1987. Acquitted of abuse of one in 1989 in CA. Convicted 2000 in HI of 1998 sexual assault on 13-year-old boy. Sentenced to 20 years in prison. Also worked in San Antonio. Civil suit filed in 2002. Another CO man came forward in 2005 to allege abuse in 1982. He received $22.5K from the order. New civil suit filed in 4/2010 claiming abuse in a CO seminary in 1976. Matson was in prison and on sex offender registry in HI as of 12/2011. Parole denied in 2/2012 but granted in 7/2013. Accused in a civil suit of repeated rape of a boy, age 8, in HI in the late 1990s at Tripler Army Base, where Matson was a chaplain. Per the suit, the alleged victim became mentally incapacitated as a result and his mother became his guardian and conservator. The Theatines' motion to dismiss the suit was denied 12/30/2019.

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Fr. J. Bart Nadal

Order: CR
Ordained: 1947
Status: Accused

Died: 02/1/2015
Diocese: Archdiocese of Denver CO

From Spain. Arrived in the U.S. in 1949, had a long career in CO. Pastor of Holy Family in Ft. Collins in 1989 when two young sisters, ages 7 and 8, said he molested them. Nadal, 67, said there was a conspiracy against him within the parish. The family pressed charges. Parishioners harassed the family; the girls needed a police escort to and from school. A jury deliberated ten minutes and acquitted him. Nadal held prominent positions, including rector of St. Andrew's Seminary in Denver and collaborator for the Liturgical Congress of the Denver and Pueblo dioceses. He died 2/1/2015.