By Darren Barbee
Fort Worth Star-Telegram
September 21, 2007
http://www.star-telegram.com/metro_news/story/242579.html
Fort Worth — An Arlington priest accused of sexual harassment was banned Thursday from working in the Fort Worth Roman Catholic Diocese, despite the inconclusive results of an investigation.
But diocese officials believed that the two women who accused the priest were intimidated into silence after coming forward. And the priest admitted buying them jewelry.
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| Do's supporters want him back. |
Bishop Kevin Vann said in a statement that it was in the best interests of the diocese and the priest's divided parish, Vietnamese Martyrs Catholic Church, for him to permanently remove the Rev. Bartholomew Hoa Thai Do. He was removed in August for the duration of the investigation.
"A pastor is needed who can bring all parishioners together and who has no cloud of past allegations about him, allegations which involve current residents of our diocese," Vann said in the statement.
Vietnamese Martyrs is believed to be the largest Vietnamese parish in the diocese, with an average Sunday attendance of 3,500. Dozens of the priest's supporters gathered Thursday at the diocese headquarters, the Catholic Center in Fort Worth. A Vietnamese Martyrs church member, Le Hoang, said diocese leaders were presented with a petition of more than 2,000 signatures asking for the priest's return.
Hoang said that because the investigation on Do did not produce clear results, the diocese should "not remove him forever."
Do, a member of the religious order Congregation of the Mother Coredemptrix, may be allowed to celebrate a farewell Mass with the bishop's approval, diocese officials said.
The priest was accused of what diocese officials have said was harassment of two women several years ago that involved some form of touching. The incidents occurred while the priest served a parish in another state, but at least one of the women had a connection to the Arlington church. The allegations surfaced in 2004, and a conduct review board recommended to then-Bishop Joseph Delaney that the priest be removed from the parish, diocese officials said.
He was not. After Delaney died and Vann became bishop, the diocese was notified that the case was still open and it launched a new investigation.
The Rev. Michael Olson, diocese vicar general, said he was told that in the midst of the accusations, pamphlets were placed on parishioners' cars attacking the women. "There was some intimidation placed on these women," he said, adding that the women refused to speak with an investigator.
He also said the priest's decision to buy them jewelry — he wasn't sure what kind — "just seemed odd, from a pastoral relationship."
Olson said priests should love their parishioners but, "I'm not calling the diamond guys. There's a boundary there."
Darren Barbee, 817-390-7126 dbarbee@star-telegram.com.
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