Dallas Catholic Diocese Calls Police Raid ‘sensational' and ‘unnecessary'

Two days after police seized files on priests from its offices and a storage unit, the Dallas Catholic Diocese late Friday condemned the Dallas Police Department for choosing “the sensational action of conducting this unnecessary raid.”The diocese’s scathing 2,000-word statement — the strongest and most detailed response by the church leaders since the raid — depicts Catholic leaders’ increasing frustration with their dealings with police during their investigation into clergy sex abuses over the last nine months.“We find this week’s events to be most troubling and consuming of significant resources that could have been put to much better use,” Bishop Edward J. Burns said in the diocese’s missive.In a video accompanying the written statement, Burns said he was “surprised, dismayed and even disappointed” by the raid, which he said “was most traumatic” for people who were in the building when officers arrived.Burns also said sexual abuse of minors “is one of the most egregious sins any human being can commit,” and committed to continued cooperation with the police.  Continue reading...

Copyright The Dallas Morning News
Contact Us