Release of priest names draws varied responses

The release of fourteen names of priests deemed “credibly accused” of offenses against minors by the Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux marks a new era of transparency for the Roman Catholic Church at the local level.

The Very Rev. Shelton Fabre, in whose hands the decision to release a list — and when it should be released — has stated that all cases of accused priests on the list are from the past, and that no priest within the diocese is currently under suspicion. How much the gesture will mean to victims of abuse, their families and advocates over the long run is likely to vary, with some interviewed over the past week expressing distrust for anything the church does.

As expected, social media posts in the wake of the story announcing the list at www.houmatimes.com and distribution of the list itself have evinced a mix of public responses. Some contained statements hostile toward the church, its history and its hierarchy, though those sentiments appeared long-held. Others expressed sympathy for victims, but also questioned whether the release of priests’ names in situations where no criminal charges had been perfected or civil suits filed.

“It is understandable if victims and their families feel angry and abandoned and if they mistrust the leadership of the church because of its failure to adequately respond to their distress and attend to their needs,” Bishop Fabre said in a statement accompanying the release of the list. “The lifelong process of healing that is necessary after enduring abuse is a road marked with struggle and I pray that the Church can assist every step of the way. I am fully aware that the words “I’m sorry” ring hollow in light of what you have endured, but I apologize on behalf of the Church for damages caused by any cleric who has sinned. I apologize if victims and their families ever felt shunned by the church or if any bishop at any time failed to listen to them. I apologize to all who have been harmed by action and inaction that could have been avoided. With deep personal grief in my own heart, I express that I am sorry.”

The bishop also acknowledging that his own apologies for their sins, no matter how heartfelt, will never be enough for those affected by such actions.

Appointed to his post in 2013, Bishop Fabre made the announcement on Friday, releasing with the list a 4,00-word treatise addressed to the faithful, those who have lost their faith or have had cause to question it, and to the priests currently tasked with meeting their spiritual needs.

One Catholic who has long been involved in his local church’s affairs expressed concern because a priest who is on the list – while having admitted to a transgression involving a 17-year-old girl – was never criminally prosecuted and thus should not be on a list of alleged pedophiles and ephebophiles. One victim of actions by a priest years ago, who still bears the psychological scars of the encounters, echoed the opinions of some advocates, that the diocesan list release and accompanying apologies by Bishop Fabre will never be enough to compensate for wrongs of an institution that has enabled crimes against children by covering up incidents in the past.

Diocesan officials said every effort was made to notify victims that the list was to be released, and one victim of crimes by a priest acknowledged receiving such a call Friday morning, indicating some comfort due to the gesture despite decades of ill effects. Addressing what he characterizes as the “evil and sin” of sexual abuse committed by clergy, Bishop Fabre acknowledged that the taint of such abuse, and the failings of church hierarchy when addressing it, has resulted in distrust and pain for victims, their families and the greater community as a whole.

“I want to apologize for the egregious sins that have taken place. Let me be clear: the abuse of a child by anyone is sinful, abhorrent and evil, particularly when perpetrated by one vested with the sacred trust of God’s children. Furthermore, any attempt to cover up these sins is even more disturbing. I apologize to all who have been harmed. It is with deep respect and profound reverence that I humbly extend this apology,” Bishop Fabre said.

The list released Friday is divided into three categories, those priests who have either admitted, been convicted or entered pleas of guilty to sexual abuse of minors; those against whom credible allegations were made as a result of civil legal actions, and those against whom allegations were made, even if resulting in no official actions, have been deemed credible.

Four of the fourteen priests on the list are dead. Nine of the priests named were relieved of priestly duties.

The term used on the list is “priestly faculties,” defined as the authority, privilege, or permission, to perform an act or function.

“When we refer to ‘priestly faculties’ we refer to one’s ability to function as a priest,” a statement accompanying the list reads. “One is only able to perform priestly ministry when authority, privilege, and permission has been granted by a bishop. Therefore, when priestly faculties have been permanently revoked, a man is no longer able to function as a priest.”

The list was finalized not by the bishop himself, but by a lay review board whose work on it began in 2018.

The lay review board is the product of the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People produced by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and adopted in 2002, but which has since been subject to revisions including some key change made in 2018.

Beginning in early autumn of 2018, the review board was tasked with examining all records relating to allegations against priests who had worked in its service. The board’s members include attorneys and educators.

Its chairman is the Hon. Morris Lottinger Jr., a Houma native, former justice of the Louisiana 1st Circuit Court of Appeal and former speaker of the Louisiana House of Representatives, now retired from the practice of law and living in Houma.

Reached by telephone Friday morning, Lottinger said in response to a question from a reporter that the task of chairing the board during the course of compiling the list – while a weighty responsibility – was consistent with his prior duties.

“It did not feel any more difficult than rendering opinions on cases I sat on while acting as a judge,” Lottinger said.

During an interview prior to the release of the list, Bishop Fabre acknowledged that some priests who have been the subject of accusations were not included.

In some cases, he explained, a record of an accusation might exist, but circumstances may have prevented any further examination beyond that mere fact.

Bishop Fabre acknowledged that the compilation of the list and its public release, despite best efforts, was a process that in and of itself was not unflawed.

One of the names is that of Robert Melancon, who died in prison while serving a life sentence for the serial rape of a former altar boy while he was assigned to Annunziata Church in Houma. On the list, there is no mention of whether Melancon’s priestly faculties were removed. Affirming that Melancon was indeed stripped of faculties, a diocesan official acknowledged in an interview that the omission on the list was due to sensitivity directed at the priest’s family in consideration of his November death. The list has since been corrected to reflect Melancon’s altered status.

Another name on the list is Etienne LeBlanc, a priest assigned to Annunziata Church in Houma, who was accused in a lawsuit later settled of molesting a pre-pubescent altar boy at Holy Cross Church in Morgan City, behavior the suit alleged continued into the time the boy was in his teens. The suit was filed when the victim was an adult. Other accusations had surfaced concerning LeBlanc over the years including alleged impropriety while he was assigned to the St. Thomas Aquinas center at Nicholls State University, Former Bishop Michael Jarrell had stated when the accusations were leveled against LeBlanc by the former Holy Cross altar boy that the diocese had no knowledge of impropriety by the priest.

That assertion was later challenged by acquaintances and family of a former student at Nicholls who had communicated with the diocese concerning allegations from LeBlanc’s time at Nicholls.

A criminal complaint had been filed by the former altar boy with the Morgan City Police Department, but it was never acted upon. The Police Department and former St. Mary Parish prosecutor J. Phil Haney each pointed toward the other as the party who should move things forward. Because the accuser had a criminal record, law enforcement sources at that time questioned whether he would be a credible witness in a criminal case.

LeBlanc, who was relieved of his priestly faculties, now lives in Florida, Bishop Fabre confirmed.

Bishop Fabre began in August a campaign of unprecedented public acknowledgment of the crisis of faith resulting from renewed accusations against the Catholic Church as an institution nationally and internationally.

A statement he issued at that time was released just prior to the release of a grand jury report in Pennsylvania detailing allegations against more than 300 priests in six diocese who were said to have been protected by church officials.

in July Pope Francis accepted the resignation of Theodore McCarrick, former Archbishop of Washington D.C., in the wake of sexual abuse allegations. The Pope has also dealt with a widely publicized abuse scandal in Chile.

Late last year the Archdiocese of New Orleans released a list of accused priests, a move that victim advocates generally saw as a positive step. Some priests on that list had also served in the Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux after it was created from the larger archdiocese.

With the release of the list Friday, Bishop Fabre reiterated his call for anyone victimized within the church to come forward, promising that that they would be treated with dignity and that concerns will be addressed.

“I acknowledge the far-reaching trauma of sexual abuse. I acknowledge the deep pain that has been inflicted and how it affects not only victims, but their families and friends as well. While there are no words that can possibly take away the pain, I also realize that silence speaks something as well,” Bishop Fabre said. “There is a grief in my heart because of what has happened. I grieve that you are hurting. I grieve that this depth of sin has gripped the Church. I grieve because I cannot take away that pain. When I realize the full weight of what has happened, I grieve. Therefore, I know that God grieves. I am deeply sorry, I am so deeply sorry.”

Fabre also asked victims and their families “not to give up on God.”

“In those moments where you are angry with the church or those who hurt you, God will not abandon you,” Bishop Fabre said. “In fact, in those moments he too hurts, he too grieves. In the pain the Lord seeks only to bring healing and comfort, and if we can ever assist him in that process it is our desire to help you and walk with you.”

Bishop Fabre