4 who served at Pasadena church on list of accused priests

St. Pius V Catholic Church parishioners are reacting to news that four priests who once were assigned to their church are on a list released by Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston of clergy named as “credibly accused” of child sexual abuse. less St. Pius V Catholic Church parishioners are reacting to news that four priests who once were assigned to their church are on a list released by Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston of clergy named as “credibly ... more Image 1 of / 3 Caption Close 4 who served at Pasadena church on list of accused priests 1 / 3 Back to Gallery

Roxanne Portillo was dropping off one of her children at St. Pius V Catholic Church in Pasadena the day the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston released a list naming 42 priests identified as “credibly accused” of sexually abusing children, including four who had been assigned to St. Pius.

Released Jan. 31, the list, which pertains to abuse cases dating back decades, is part of a stated effort by the Catholic Church to establish more transparency as well as assume accountability regarding abuses by priests.

But the reckoning comes a little late, said Portillo.

“We come here for faith and to make sure that our kids our safe, but it doesn’t always turn out that way,” she said. “If we find out that the priests or the deacons are trying to do something harmful to our children … I think it’s the church’s responsibility to do more (to be accountable).”

Three of the priests on the list who had been assigned to St. Pius V at some point in their careers are dead: Nicholas Cornelius Antle, Allen Ray Doga and Joseph Giles Leduc. The fourth, Donald A. Neumann, was removed from ministry in 2013, according to the list.

The list does not cite the years these men served at St. Pius. Each had been assigned to numerous congregations. The archdiocese provided information in the list about the assignments and careers of the men, and additional details are from court records, historical information and Houston Chronicle archives.

Antle, who died in 2016, was ordained in 1959. Thirteen years later, he was charged with drunken driving in Harris County, according to state records. He was convicted and sentenced to a year of probation. Twenty years after that, he was arrested for public lewdness, which resulted in a a year of probation and he was also ordered to “continue counseling.”

He retired in 1990 after seven assignments, including a few years at St. Pius, and was removed from ministry in 2011.

Doga was ordained in 1949 and had assignments in Houston, Galveston, Spring, Houston and Pasadena. He died in 1999.

Leduc was ordained in 1955 and had 10 assignments with the church in the Houston and Beaumont/Port Arthur areas. He died in 1981.

David Emmett Burns is a priest on the list who had been assigned to St. Mary’s of the Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in La Porte. Burns, who died in 2003, was ordained in 1961. He was arrested in June 1976 for driving under the influence in Houston, then fined and put on probation for 18 months, according to state records. He had nine assignments from Port Arthur to La Porte and retired in 1992. He was removed from ministry that year.

To search an interactive database of priests on the list, visit chron.com/accusedpriests.

St. Pius’ pastor, the Rev. Joseph Doran, referred questions about the priests named on the list to the archdiocese.

In a videotaped statement, Cardinal Daniel DiNardo said, “For the survivors, those who are wounded, this was a day in which they could say, ‘I’m not alone’ — it is a day when the healing of the church can begin ... It’s a day of anger on the part of the faithful when they see these names, anger on the part of survivors.”

Portillo, 42, has been a member of St. Pius, the largest Catholic church in Pasadena, for five years. That the careers of the four priests on the list who were assigned to St. Pius were not recent does not make the situation it easier to process, she said. As a Catholic, she worries her children will lose their trust in the church.

“It’s hard enough out in the world and you come to church and this (abuse) happens,” Portillo said. “You’re putting faith in God, showing your kids to be faithful, too and then this happens.”

Peak attendance at St. Pius, which is at 824 Main St., was from the 1950s-1970s, said Lucy Turoff, curator for the Pasadena Historical Museum. In the 1980s, St. Pius and other area Catholic churches began to experience a wane in membership as newer immigrants left to join the growing evangelical movement. But St. Pius, with its seating capacity of 600, adjacent school, courtyards and walkways, has continued as a vital part of the city, she said.

“It is, especially with its school, very much a presence in the community, but this (priest sexual abuse crisis) has not been good for the church in general,” Turoff said.

Emilio Barba was picking up his young children from the church’s school about an hour after the release of the names. Barba, who is in his 30s, is a new member at St Pius, but the list didn’t shake his own belief.

“Like I tell everybody: you have to have faith,” he said.

Faith not in the human beings, or an organization that runs the church, he said, but in a personal commitment to God.

“If you’re going to get political (about the church) it’s going to make everybody’s head turn in circles,” Barba said. “It’s not just Catholics, it’s every race or group. There’s crazies, there’s all kinds of things in this earth.

“You’ve got to have a lot of faith in the man upstairs.”

yorozco@hcnonline.com