BishopAccountability.org
	Woman's Suit against Priest, Archdiocese Closer to Trial By Elizabeth Allen Express-News September 19, 2007 http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/metro/stories/MYSA092007.03B.priestlawsuit.305ba92.html A judge cleared the way Wednesday for a lawsuit against a local priest, the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart religious order and the Archdiocese of San Antonio to head to trial in Bexar County. The lawsuit, filed in 2004 by Theresa Gomez, alleges that Father Michael O'Brien used his position as her counselor to manipulate her into a sexual relationship. Gomez alleges O'Brien began counseling her in 2000 on various issues, including her ongoing grief over the death of her husband eight years earlier. As her trust in O'Brien grew, she confided many personal issues. Late that year, the relationship began to change, according to court documents, and began to include "expressions of affection and the giving of gifts beyond those that would be expected of, or appropriate from, a counselor or priest toward a parishioner," the lawsuit claims. By midsummer 2001, the relationship had escalated to sexual intercourse, the lawsuit alleges. Gomez confided to an archdiocesan priest of the relationship, the lawsuit states, and later she reported it to other church officials in 2003; however, "no disciplinary action was taken against O'Brien." O'Brien has denied the allegations. Tom Jones, the lawyer for O'Brien and the Missionaries, said his comments on the case will be limited. "All the facts will come out," he said. On Wednesday, O'Brien and the Missionaries argued that the case should be dismissed because of varying interpretations of a new law that pertains to the suing of health care providers. They also argued that the case doesn't belong in civil district court. In that motion, lawyers argued that a violation of the separation of church and state occurs if a court of law allows a ruling on how a religious organization disciplines its members. Judge Janet Littlejohn of the 150th District Court denied both motions. Gomez said after the hearing that getting this far has been emotionally and physically exhausting. "If we have a trial date of April 7, it will be literally five years from the date I reported him," she said. "I was deposed for six hours, and I have to be deposed again." eallen@express-news.net
Any original material on these pages is copyright © BishopAccountability.org 2004. Reproduce freely with attribution.