NEW ORLEANS (LA)
The Times-Picayune
Monday, June 13, 2005
By Bruce Nolan
Staff writer
The pretrial battle in a former New Orleans priest's defamation suit against Archbishop Alfred Hughes so far is less about five accusations of child molestation against the priest than whether Hughes sought out and publicized the claims purely to burnish his own reputation as an aggressive watchdog.
What Hughes knew, when he knew it, and whether he actively sought out old molestation claims against Bernard Schmaltz were the topics of a four-hour April 11 deposition of Hughes by Schmaltz's attorney, Buddy Lemann.
"Did you, Archbishop, direct either Sister Carmelita (Centanni, the archdiocese's victim-assistance coordinator) or some other delegate of yours to do -- to tar -- in effect, tar and feather Bernie Schmaltz, to go and beat the bushes and find alleged victims of Bernie Schmaltz?" Lemann asked in one exchange.
"That's like asking, 'Have you stopped beating your wife,' " Hughes answered.