The Catholic Church in Texas says it is reviewing allegations that a top monsignor continued to hear a married woman's confessions after luring her into a sexual relationship, which represents potentially serious misconduct under church law.
Cardinal Daniel DiNardo presides over a Mass of Ordination for candidates for the priesthood at the Co-Cathedral of the Sacred Heart in Houston Saturday, June 1, 2019. DiNardo, leading the U.S. Catholic Church's sex abuse response, has been accused of mishandling a case where his deputy allegedly manipulated a woman into a sexual relationship, even as he counselled her husband and solicited their donations.
Pontikes has accused Monsignor Frank Rossi, DiNardo’s former deputy, of exploiting her emotional dependency on him to manipulate her into a sexual relationship, even as he heard her confessions, counseled her husband on their strained marriage and solicited hundreds of thousands of dollars from them in donations for the church. The archdiocese removed Rossi from the Houston parish, but allowed him to return to ministry in another diocese after he completed a treatment program.
The case is significant because DiNardo heads the U.S. Catholic Church’s response to the clergy sex-abuse scandal, which exploded anew last year worldwide. As president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, DiNardo will lead a meeting next week of U.S. bishops to approve new measures for accountability over abuse.
Pontikes has accused DiNardo of negligence in her case for not pursuing the issue of confession, also known as the sacrament of reconciliation. In email correspondence turned over to the archdiocese and AP, there are multiple references to confession with Rossi, including after what Pontikes reported was the Dec. 4, 2012, start of the physical relationship.
She said she confessed to having “an inappropriate relationship with my priest,” and he absolved her and told her to sin no more. After the relationship was consummated seven weeks later, she says, she went to two other priests for confession. She ultimately ended the physical relationship because “I couldn’t keep confessing the same sin over and over again and expect God to believe I was contrite,” she said.
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