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	Diocese Looks at Concerns By Michael Futch The News & Observer September 4, 2009 http://www.newsobserver.com/news/story/1674379.html RED SPRINGS -- Father Fernando Torres, a former administrator at the Hispanic Roman Catholic parish in Red Springs, has been named the facilitator for a fact-gathering process intended to calm discord in the church. Torres was assigned to Iglesia Catolica San Andres, or St. Andrew Catholic Church, when it was still a mission in the 1990s. He is a former vicar for Hispanics in the Raleigh Diocese. "He brings to the position a knowledge of the parish, having been assigned there, and also an awareness of Hispanic needs and awareness through the diocese," said Frank Morock, a spokesman for the Raleigh Diocese. The church has been divided for about a year, or shortly after Father Walter Ospina replaced the popular Father Carlos Arce. Arce served as an advocate for the Hispanic community. By contrast, some parishioners describe Ospina, 33, as aloof, sarcastic and a poor communicator, and they say he's not a man of the people. An allegation was made that the priest had acted inappropriately, but the Robeson County District Attorney's Office cleared Ospina, saying there was no evidence to support the allegation. The DA's office would not release the nature of the allegation. Ospina, who was never charged, has denied any wrongdoing. On Aug. 16, a group of about 150 churchgoers padlocked Ospina out of the church to protest his continued assignment in Robeson County. Ospina also celebrates the Spanish Mass at St. Francis De Sales Catholic Church in Lumberton and St. Andrew missionary station in St. Pauls. Last month, the diocese said that it had no reason to remove Ospina and that he would continue to serve the Hispanic population of Robeson County.
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