Article Title
Woman accuses top US cardinal of dismissing sex abuse case
Link to Article: https://www.apnews.com/8d01805d128d415ea280b7da538ebaa2
Source: Associated Press
Author(s): Nicole Winfield/ AP (AP writer Nomaan Merchant contributed to this story)
Date: June 05, 2019
Synopsis of / Excerpts from Article
The cardinal leading the U.S. Catholic Church’s response to the sex abuse crisis has been accused of mishandling a case alleging that his then-deputy manipulated a woman into a sexual relationship, even as he counseled her husband on their marriage, heard her confessions and solicited their donations.
The actors in this sordid tale are as follows:
- Daniel DiNardo, cardinal of the Galveston-Houston archdiocese and current President of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops
- Laura Pontikes, 55-year-old Houston construction executive and mother of three
- Frank Rossi (monsignor), 62-year-old longtime chancellor and vicar general of the Galveston-Houston archdiocese
- George Pontikes, Houston construction executive and husband of Laura Pontikes
According to the article:
Laura Pontikes reported that Rossi … seduced her when she came to him for spiritual counseling at a low point in her life. Pontikes gave the archdiocese and the AP seven years of emails with Rossi to show her emotional dependency on him. [Laura Pontikes first met Rossi in December 2007.] His easy manner broke the ice, and soon the coiffed and charismatic preacher was calling her “Laura dear” and attending family dinners. [Rossi] actively solicited donations, including for an ambitious capital campaign to rebuild the parish rectory. In all, Pontikes estimated the couple gave the church more than $2 million over nine years.
Pontikes’ husband, George, began reaching out to Rossi for help in March 2013 because of his wife’s increasing distance and irritability. [Later], the priest and parishioner consummated the relationship, Laura Pontikes said. It was the first of up to half a dozen such sexual encounters over more than a year, she said. The archdiocese disputed her account and said the two never had intercourse.
[Laura Ponitkes] reported Monsignor Frank Rossi to the Galveston-Houston archdiocese in April 2016. DiNardo initially declared her “the victim” and thanked her for coming forward, and his staff told her Rossi would never be a pastor or counsel women again, according to Pontikes. But a few months later, DiNardo allowed Rossi to take up a new assignment as pastor at Our Lady of the Pines in Woodville, Texas.
The archdiocese told AP the relationship was consensual. In a statement, it said DiNardo put Rossi on leave after receiving the complaint, and returned him to active ministry without restrictions in a new diocese based on recommendations from an out-of-state “renewal” program for clergy that he had completed. DiNardo’s archdiocese said it informed Rossi’s new boss, Beaumont Bishop Curtis Guillory, of his violation of the chastity vow and his time in the program.
… Texas law states that sex with an adult is without consent if a clergyman exploits a person’s emotional dependency on him in a spiritual counseling relationship. Pontikes’ Catholic therapist, Dr. Ken Buckle, said in a sworn affidavit that she was in crisis after being “seduced, betrayed and ultimately sexually victimized” by Rossi, and that the archdiocese’s decision to relocate Rossi to another parish was “highly distressing” to her because she felt he was a danger to other women.
Pontikes has also taken her case to the Vatican. She said Rossi absolved her of their sexual sins at confession, a serious canonical crime DiNardo never asked her about. The archdiocese said Rossi never heard her confession during or after the physical relationship. However, several references to confession are found in the email correspondence Pontikes gave the archdiocese.
The author of this article, Nicole Winfield, has also written a lengthier and more detailed story on these matters, also dated June 5, 2019, which is available via the following link: https://www.apnews.com/8a80c0c1276f4cc485e0599e922759c2