BEAUMONT (TX)
The Enterprise
February 1, 2019
By Haley Bruyn
The Catholic clergy sex scandal, subject of lawsuits, movies and countless works of journalism, became suddenly personal in Southeast Texas this week after the Diocese of Beaumont released the names of 13 priests found to have been credibly accused of abusing minors over the last half-century.
“I was just devastated,” said Angela Mazzola-Burleigh of Orange after learning that former priest Earl Mudd, who married her parents and baptized her oldest sister, was among the presumed violators.
“When I saw his name on that list, he went from priest to predator in my mind,” she said.
It was a scene played out in an uncountable number of Catholic households, here and across the state, following the coordinated release of nearly 300 names from 14 Texas dioceses. It was one of the largest such reckonings in the nation.
Hilda Arisco of Nederland recounted her experiences with another accused priest, Henry Drouilhet, during his time at St. Pius X Catholic Church in Beaumont.
“He was mean,” she said. “I wasn’t surprised to see his name on there. He hated girls but was always nice to the boys.”
Arisco recalled picking up her daughter from catechism class and finding her and the other girls in her class outside. They said Drouilhet had made all of them wait outside while the boys stayed indoors.
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