By Christopher Burbach
World Herald
April 24, 2010
http://www.omaha.com/article/20100424/NEWS01/704249857
Letters will go out in church bulletins and priests will make announcements this weekend at the Nebraska parishes formerly served by a priest who has been accused of sexual assault in Texas.
The Rev. John M. Fiala, 51, is accused in a civil lawsuit of sexually assaulting a 16-year-old boy at gunpoint and during private catechism sessions two years ago at a parish in Rocksprings, Texas.
Texas authorities also are pursuing criminal charges against Fiala. They plan to take evidence to a grand jury next month.
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| The Rev. John M. Fiala served at a number of parishes in the Archdiocese of Omaha between 1984 and 1996. He is being sued in Texas over an alleged sexual assault. |
The bulletin and church announcements this weekend will be similar to a statement that the Archdiocese of Omaha sent out earlier this week, said Timothy F. McNeil, a church deacon and vice chancellor of the archdiocese.
The purpose, he said, is to let parishioners "know that (Fiala) served at this particular parish in this time period, and if they had encountered him in a negative way to contact us."
The archdiocese this week said that Fiala worked at several Nebraska parishes from 1984 to 1996: St. Columbkille in Papillion; Sacred Heart in Norfolk; St. Joan of Arc, St. Peter and Christ the King in Omaha; St. Mary in Spencer; and St. Joseph in Wisner.
Fiala eventually moved on to a religious order in Texas, the Society of Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity.
This week the pastors of the Nebraska parishes "were sent a letter to read from the pulpit during announcement time (at weekend Masses) and insert into the bulletin," McNeil said.
The letters ask victims to contact the Rev. Joseph Taphorn, chancellor of the archdiocese, at 402-558-3100, or the archdiocese's victim assistance coordinator, Mary Beth Hanus, at 888-808-9055, to report incidents of abuse. Victims also can contact the Omaha Police Department's child victim/sexual assault unit at 444-5636.
Sarpy County Attorney Lee Polikov has said a 2002 complaint that led to no legal action came out of Papillion. The Omaha Archdiocese had sent a letter to the Sarpy County Attorney's Office about a complaint that Fiala had made sexual advances against a minor in the mid-1980s.
The archdiocese also notified church officials in Kansas, where Fiala was then working as a priest.
The Rev. Damian Zuerlein, pastor of St. Columbkille in Papillion, said Friday that he had heard no other complaints about Fiala.
"One of the challenges we have is that the vast majority of our parishioners were not even here when Fiala was here," Zuerlein said.
Others have slim recollections of him.
"I've talked to some (longtime parishioners), and they said he was very immature and didn't relate with adults very well," Zuerlein said.
In addition to reading the letter at Masses this weekend, he planned to make comments expressing concern about the situation and any other potential victims.
"And hopefully if anyone has anything, they'll come forward," Zuerlein said.
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