FORT WORTH (TX)
Fort Worth Star-Telegram
By Darren Barbee
Star-Telegram Staff Writer
FORT WORTH - The Fort Worth Roman Catholic Diocese on Friday named the eight priests who have been accused of sexual misconduct with minors since the diocese was founded in 1969.
Four of the names had already been made public through lawsuits, diocese statements and other means. The other four, not previously identified, are the Rev. James Reilly, the Rev. James Hanlon, the Rev. John Howlett and the Rev. Joseph Tu Ngoc Nguyen, according to a statement by the diocese.
Tu, a Dominican religious order priest, is the only one of the eight accused clerics still in active ministry. Reached by phone Friday in the Galveston-Houston Diocese, where he works, Tu said the matter is resolved and declined to comment further.
Hanlon died in 1990, and Reilly died in 1999. Howlett, a Pallottine religious order priest, was removed from active ministry several years ago.
Last year, Fort Worth Bishop Joseph Delaney released the number of accused priests as part of a national study by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. But he refused to identify them all. In recent months, the diocese had also fought to keep the priests' names and files sealed.
Posted by kshaw at June 11, 2005 06:37 AM