Catholic Church Texas

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Dallas agreed Friday to pay $23 million to eight former altar boys who were sexually abused for years by a priest, by far the largest settlement the Catholic Church has ever been forced to reach in such a case. The agreement closes one of the most sordid, difficult chapters in recent church history.

California, New York and Texas continue to report America's biggest Roman Catholic populations and together have a third of the church's U.S. membership of 62 million, according to the 2000 Catholic Almanac. The states with the highest percentages of Catholics in the population, however, are Rhode Island at 63.7%, Massachusetts, 48.9%, New Jersey, 41.8%, and Connecticut, 40.9%. The almanac, published by Our Sunday Visitor Inc., shows that as of 1999, Catholics made up 22.7% of the U.S.

Every Sunday, parishioners at St. Peter's Catholic Church walk past their Mission-style stone church and file instead into an old gymnasium for their morning worship. The Rev. Tony Cummins leads Mass in the cavernous metal building that also doubles as a senior citizens center, praying beneath the basketball hoops and alongside the other trappings of the community center.

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Dallas agreed Friday to pay $23 million to eight former altar boys who were sexually abused for years by a priest, by far the largest settlement the Catholic Church has ever been forced to reach in such a case. The agreement closes one of the most sordid, difficult chapters in recent church history.

Hundreds of people could die from heat exhaustion and lack of water at an outdoor papal Mass in San Antonio in September because organizers aren't prepared, said the city's health director, who resigned in protest. Dr. Katharine Rathbun, director of the San Antonio Metropolitan Health District, said a 144-acre site is inadequate to accommodate a crowd expected to be more than 500,000 at the Sept. 13 Mass by Pope John Paul II. She said the crowd should be limited to 125,000.

Workers removed debris Friday from the outdoor altar site where two decorative towers collapsed in high winds, and church officials said the damage would not jeopardize plans for Pope John Paul II to celebrate Mass on Sunday. "This is like our Good Friday, but resurrection comes and we believe in that," said a tearful Larry Stuebben, a priest who heads the Texas Papal Visit Committee. "When Sunday comes, it will be like an Easter Sunday, because there will be the sense of resurrection."

The Vatican announced Monday that a Mission Hills-based bishop, an auxiliary bishop of the Los Angeles Catholic Archdiocese for more than nine years, has been named bishop of El Paso--and that's no April Fools' joke, the prelate says. "I am quite sure you are wondering . . . Is this one big April Fools' joke or what?" was the opening line of the brief statement left behind by the Most Rev. Armando X.

The old Spanish-style church of weathered stone, perched proudly on a rise above this town's main street, sits at the center of a dispute that is likely to determine the reach of religious liberty in this nation. In the narrow sense, the battle here is over zoning. Although picturesque from the street, St. Peter's Catholic Church is cramped and plain inside. "We can't fit in it anymore. It seats 220 people and we have 1,050 families," Father Anthony Cummins said.

Cardinal John J. O'Connor of New York said he was not consulted about the excommunication of a Roman Catholic woman for heading a Texas abortion clinic and insisted he had no plans for taking similar action in his archdiocese. Speaking after Mass at St. Patrick's Cathedral, O'Connor said he had no role in the excommunication of Rachel Vargas by Bishop Rene Gracida of Corpus Christi, Tex. Gracida excommunicated Vargas in June for working as the director of an abortion clinic.

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Dallas and a defrocked priest were ordered Thursday to pay $119 million to 10 men and the family of a suicide victim who were molested as altar boys, in what is believed to be the costliest sex abuse judgment ever levied against a church. The jury award ended an 11-week civil trial in which the church was accused of covering up the conduct of a pedophile priest, Father Rudolph "Rudy" Kos.

The Roman Catholic Church, shocked by a record number of executions in Texas this year, urged the state Monday to abandon the death penalty. All 21 of the state's Catholic bishops said in a statement the state was "usurping the sovereign dominion of God over human life" and thereby contributing to "a climate of violence." "We sympathize with the profound pain of the victims of brutal crimes.

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Dallas and a defrocked priest were ordered Thursday to pay $119 million to 10 men and the family of a suicide victim who were molested as altar boys, in what is believed to be the costliest sex abuse judgment ever levied against a church. The jury award ended an 11-week civil trial in which the church was accused of covering up the conduct of a pedophile priest, Father Rudolph "Rudy" Kos.

The old Spanish-style church of weathered stone, perched proudly on a rise above this town's main street, sits at the center of a dispute that is likely to determine the reach of religious liberty in this nation. In the narrow sense, the battle here is over zoning. Although picturesque from the street, St. Peter's Catholic Church is cramped and plain inside. "We can't fit in it anymore. It seats 220 people and we have 1,050 families," Father Anthony Cummins said.

Every Sunday, parishioners at St. Peter's Catholic Church walk past their Mission-style stone church and file instead into an old gymnasium for their morning worship. The Rev. Tony Cummins leads Mass in the cavernous metal building that also doubles as a senior citizens center, praying beneath the basketball hoops and alongside the other trappings of the community center.

The Vatican announced Monday that a Mission Hills-based bishop, an auxiliary bishop of the Los Angeles Catholic Archdiocese for more than nine years, has been named bishop of El Paso--and that's no April Fools' joke, the prelate says. "I am quite sure you are wondering . . . Is this one big April Fools' joke or what?" was the opening line of the brief statement left behind by the Most Rev. Armando X.

A Houston jury refused to find the Roman Catholic Church negligent in a $7-million suit filed by a woman who had had a two-year sexual relationship with a priest. Jurors deliberated just three hours before rejecting the claim of Debbie McCorvey, 34, that the church was negligent in allowing Father Fernando Noe Guzman to exploit her dependence on him as a counselor.

The Roman Catholic Church has formally excommunicated an abortion clinic director, saying in a decree that her work "is a sin against God and humanity." An abortion rights leader said Friday that the action may be unprecedented, but a church official noted that a Rhode Island woman had received a letter in 1986 saying she had brought excommunication on herself by helping women get abortions. Rachel Vargas, director of Reproductive Services Inc., was excommunicated by Bishop Rene H.

Cardinal John J. O'Connor of New York said he was not consulted about the excommunication of a Roman Catholic woman for heading a Texas abortion clinic and insisted he had no plans for taking similar action in his archdiocese. Speaking after Mass at St. Patrick's Cathedral, O'Connor said he had no role in the excommunication of Rachel Vargas by Bishop Rene Gracida of Corpus Christi, Tex. Gracida excommunicated Vargas in June for working as the director of an abortion clinic.

The Roman Catholic Church has formally excommunicated an abortion clinic director, saying in a decree that her work "is a sin against God and humanity." An abortion rights leader said Friday that the action may be unprecedented, but a church official noted that a Rhode Island woman had received a letter in 1986 saying she had brought excommunication on herself by helping women get abortions. Rachel Vargas, director of Reproductive Services Inc., was excommunicated by Bishop Rene H.