SAN ANTONIO (TX)
KTSA, 550 AM [San Antonio TX]
August 14, 2023
By Don Morgan
A local Priest was not leading Mass Sunday following allegations that he abused a child.
KSAT-12 reports, parishioners at St. Monica’s Catholic Church in Converse were informed of the charges against Father Alejandro Ortega when a letter written by San Antonio Archbishop Gustavo Garcia-Siller was read aloud.
The letter states Ortega has been accused of having inappropriate physical contact with a minor.
Garcia-Siller says the teen’s parents reported the abuse to the archdiocese in June. The Bexar County D.A’s office was then notified.
After a preliminary canonical investigation, it was determined there was “sufficient evidence” of sexual abuse allegations and Ortega was removed from the parish.
The investigation was conducted by a private investigator and the archdiocese received the results June 27.
Garcia-Siller states in his letter:
“I have removed Father Ortega’s faculties and have prohibited him from exercising any priestly ministry and from using clerical clothes or clerical titles during the course of the canonical process.”
Garcia-Siller credited the victim for coming forward and encouraged anyone who is the victim of sexual abuse to call the police.
The Sunday Mass including the announcement was live-streamed on Facebook.