BEAUMONT (TX)
Beaumont Enterprise
February 4, 2019
By Kaitlin Bain
Bishop Curtis Guillory has reaffirmed the Diocese of Beaumont’s position regarding sexual abuses by members of the clergy after a statement from a pastor this weekend that questioned the criminal nature of the acts.
“Any act of sexual abuse of a minor is a heinous crime and it is a sin,” Guillory said, echoing his public letter of apology issued Thursday. “It’s a grave sin.”
The bishop said he spoke with Monsignor William Manager on Monday morning regarding comments during a Saturday service, during which Manger said the small number of clergy members arrested for sexual acts tells him what they did was not to “an intense criminal standard.”
Guillory said Manger corrected the statement during Sunday’s services. Manger also told the Enterprise on Sunday he shouldn’t have brought up the issue and wasn’t clear on the offenses that 13 local clergy members were said to have committed. Their names were made public as part of a statewide counting of “credibly accused” priests for actions committed over the decades.
Guillory said he does not expect Manger to address the issue further and no disciplinary action will be taken. However, the bishop said he’s asked members of the clergy and staff in the nine-county diocese to be “very sensitive to the victims.”
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