The Priest That Preyed

By DANIEL A. OLIVAS
Published: February 6, 2013
LOS ANGELES

IT is the autumn of 2003, and I am sitting with my wife and teenage son at a large table that is groaning with plates of Mexican food and soft drinks and wine. We’re celebrating my sister’s anniversary, and like most Mexican parties in Los Angeles, a member of a religious order is in attendance to share in the family’s joy.

This time, it’s a nun whom I’ve known since I was a student at St. Thomas the Apostle grammar school. I am no longer Catholic, but I admire this tough, compassionate woman who dedicated herself to educating the children of my predominantly working-class Latino neighborhood. She leans over and says, almost in a whisper, “I read your new book.” And then she says, “I recognized him.”

Immediately, I know whom she’s talking about, and I begin to perspire.

The title story of the book, called “Assumption,” describes a fictionalized priest, Father González, who served a parish in a neighborhood not unlike the one I grew up in. The priest in the story is known for being “cool” and spending time with some of the more troubled boys at the nearby grammar school. The boys talk about how he has invited them to visit his room, drink wine, listen to Sly Stone and look at dirty magazines. These visits, of course, lead to the boys’ molesting. In the story, the priest gets caught and, in disgrace, hangs himself.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/07/opinion/the-catholic-church-abuse-cancer-spreads.html?_r=0