UNITED STATES
Waiting for Godot to Leave
Kevin O’Brien
Has anyone ever commented on the fact that, not only is it shocking that bishops have been covering for, lying for, and enabling abusive priests – but that when a priest is sexually active at all (even with consenting adults), this seems to be no big deal to bishops?
In the case of Fr. LaVan in St. Paul, who was kept in ministry until very recently (in violation of the Dallas Charter), not only was he (by the admission of the archdiocese) “credibly accused” of raping two teenage girls and yet allowed to serve in parishes for 25 years after these rapes, but over that period of time, he also had a series of affairs with adults – who were married parishioners.
As early as 1986, LaVan admitted to having affairs with at least four married women (up to that time) who were parishioners of his. He bragged to the woman whose husband he threatened to murder that he had several “woman lovers” from his parishes that he kept in contact with even after he would be sent to a new parish.
Now, it’s bad enough that LaVan was allowed to continue to function as a priest, even after the archdiocese was convinced he had raped two teenage girls.
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