INDIANA
The Observer
Catherine Owers | Friday, April 8, 2016
Notre Dame faculty, staff and students gathered in the Basilica of the Sacred Heart for Thursday afternoon for a Mass in memory of theology professor Fr. Virgilio Elizondo, who died March 14 in San Antonio.
Elizondo, the University of Notre Dame professor of Pastoral and Hispanic Theology, is widely considered the founder of U.S. Latino theology and received the 1997 Laetare Medal. University President Fr. John Jenkins celebrated the Mass, and Fr. Daniel Groody, director of immigration initiatives for the Institute for Latino Studies, delivered the homily.
Groody said Elizondo was a man who was devoted to relationships, gave generously and “greeted people with open arms.”
“Wherever he went, he often could be found around a table, gathering people together, forming new relationships, discussing new ideas,” he said. …
In his homily, Groody spoke on the allegations of sexual abuse made against Elizondo last year.
“In May of last year, a man came forward with allegations that he was sexually, repeatedly abused by a priest more than 30 years ago. If such allegations are true, it’s an egregious injustice against this human being. That priest, however, was not Virgil Elizondo,” he said. “These allegations [were] against another priest who fled the country and was never heard from again. Virgil later became connected to the allegations through one disputed incident of the plaintiff, which Virgil completely denied. He was brought into this case not because he was a serial abuser, but because he was a highly visible, accomplished, respected cleric. … This one accusation put the spotlight entirely on Virgil.”
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