IN--Priest’s damning suicide note is revealed; Victims respond

For immediate release: Friday, April 8, 2016

Statement by David Clohessy of St. Louis, Director of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (314 566 9790314 645 5915 home, [email protected])

A suicide note strongly suggests that a high profile accused predator priest who worked at Notre Dame is guilty of child sex crimes.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3530285/The-final-insult-child-molester-Catholic-priest-committed-suicide-evade-justice-said-gift-victims-life-serving-others.html

http://www.snapnetwork.org/in_accused_notre_dame_predator_priest_commits_suicide_victims_respond

According to the Daily Mail Online, Father Virgilio Elizondo “left a chilling suicide note in which he claims he took his own life as 'a final gift' to anyone he 'might have hurt.’” The publication says the note “appears to be a veiled admission of guilt.”

A child sex abuse and cover up lawsuit filed in San Antonio, where Fr. Elizondo also lived and worked, says Fr. Elizondo sexually assaulted a boy when the boy went to him to report abuse by another priest, Father Jesus Armando Dominguez, a fugitive from justice believed to be in Mexico.

We agree with Thomas J. Henry, the lawyer representing Fr. Elizondo's alleged victim, who says Fr. Elizondo’s not is “self-serving and manipulative.” It’s also hurtful to victims, many of whom will almost certainly think “Why speak up? Predators always duck, dodge and deny, right up until the end, and many still think they’re innocent.”

No matter what lawmakers or church officials do or don’t do, we urge every single person who saw, suspected or suffered child sex crimes and cover ups in Catholic churches or institutions – especially at Notre Dame – to protect kids by calling police, get help by calling therapists, expose wrongdoers by calling journalists, get justice by calling attorneys, and get comfort by calling support groups like ours. This is how kids will be safer, adults will recover, criminals will be prosecuted, cover ups will be deterred and the truth will surface.

http://www.bishop-accountability.org/news2016/03_04/2016_03_15_Tribune_Notre_of.htm

(SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, is the world’s oldest and largest support group for clergy abuse victims. SNAP was founded in 1988 and has more than 20,000 members. Despite the word “priest” in our title, we have members who were molested by religious figures of all denominations, including nuns, rabbis, bishops, and Protestant ministers. Our website is SNAPnetwork.org)

Contact - David Clohessy (314-566-9790 cell, [email protected]), Barbara Dorris (314-503-0003 cell, [email protected]), Barbara Blaine (312-399-4747,[email protected])

 

EXCLUSIVE: The final insult - 'child molester' Catholic priest who committed suicide to evade justice said it was a 'gift' to his victims – after a life 'serving others'

Father Virgilio Elizondo, 80, shot himself in the head after he was accused of molesting a young boy 

Notre Dame professor was leading Catholic intellectual but faced ruin before he shot himself in the head at San Antonio, Texas, home 

Now his suicide note is revealed and shows how he admitted being 'a sinner' but said: 'I have lived a life dedicated to serving others'

Lawyer for the victim tells Daily Mail Online: 'Giving up your life is not a gift to any abused child, it's just a manipulation'

By EMMA FOSTER FOR DAILYMAIL.COM, April 8, 2016

A Catholic priest who shot himself in the head after he was accused of molesting a young boy left a chilling suicide note in which he claims he took his own life as 'a final gift' to anyone he 'might have hurt'.

In the note - which appears to be a veiled admission of guilt - Father Virgilio Elizondo, 80, said he had lived a life 'totally dedicated to serving others'.

The Notre Dame professor left it near where his body was found, at his San Antonio, Texas, home.

Apparently unconcerned  . . . 

Read full article here


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