https://www.click2houston.com/news/catholic-church/here-are-the-lists-of-credibly-accused-catholic-priests-in-texas

Looked through the dioceses in which I have lived. "Credibly Accused." Saw a name I recognized. Also noted a missing name (apparently harassment does not count): http://www.bishop-accountability.org/news13/2005_02_07_DallasMorningNews_RockwallPriest_William_Richard_2.htm

Fr. John Keller from Prince of Peace has been removed. One of, if not the largest parish in the diocese.

The Church in Plano? There is no Keller on that list?

you have to go further down. The ones that are still alive are at the bottom. Prince of Peace in Houston. Fr. John baptized one of my sons. Catholic and even I know that's sneaky.

JoeAggie5 said:

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you have to go further down. The ones that are still alive are at the bottom. Prince of Peace in Houston. Fr. John baptized one of my sons. Catholic and even I know that's sneaky.

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Maybe the list isn't scrolling right. When I put in "F" for find, and Keller -- nothing comes up. The last on the list is the so-called Incardinated in Other Diocese/Other Religious Order. If it is supposed to scroll lower, its not showing. Ah well. Just wanted to check if meant Plano's.

At least not on this list:
https://www.cathdal.org/list

DISREGARD: It is a HOUSTON-GALVESTON Church of the same name.

So tragic. I recognize one name from Galveston-Houston.

Wow. I missed Fr. Keller on my first look through the list.

Was shocked to see the Priest who baptized me, all my brothers and sisters, and two of my kids. He was a long time friend of my Grandmother and our family in Corpus Christi. He retired in 1999 and passed away in 2000.

Guy who taught at my HS while I was there is on the list. We knew he was creepy as hell back in 2003. Called him "Hands on Hanna" so not surprised at all to see him on there.

Tough day. It's always tragic when leaders of the faith fall.

Very sad. That's why they should let priest date

I scrolled through just the Galveston-Houston list. One guy was removed in 2018, and a few others in 2013. I couldn't find any more recent. Does that mean that there has been one person under investigation in the last 5 years? So has Houston-Galveston been really good about selecting their priests in the last 5 years, or are things still being hidden?
This could still be the fox guarding the hen house.

How often do you think this kind of thing happens?

Again just looking at Houston-Galveston. The oldest ordination was 1925 and there were 42 names. So once every two years. Without doing a deep dive of the numbers.

In Texas And Beyond The "Reckoning" Continues
Whispers in the Loggia

Saw someone I knew fairly well on the list. He was our parish priest for years, my Mom worked in the parish office and my Mom and aunt both worked in the parish school. He was over at our house all the time. Frequently had Thanksgiving and other major holiday meals at our house. I never much liked him but wouldn't have suspected that he did what he was tied to. Ugh.

From a Houston Chronicle today... an update on Fr. Keller.

Quote:

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Father John Keller of Prince of Peace Catholic Community Church one of the 42 priests named by the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston on Thursday had told the story at mass several months ago, she said. In the version Hunter heard, he'd been falsely accused and undergone an extensive investigation and been vindicated.

"He was very believable," said Hunter, 68. "He got a large ovation and support from the congregation."

Keller gave one final mass Thursday, the day the archdiocese released the list that spanned decades. On the first Sunday since dioceses across Texas named nearly 300 clergymen as credibly accused of sexual abuse, the Prince of Peace parking lot was so full that congregants parked in fire lanes and on side streets.

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There were 2 allegations. The one Fr. John spoke about months ago, was considered non-credible, he has addressed that a couple of times over the years because it kept coming up. That's the one the Cardinal cut off the interviewer on CBS story and said "that one's not credible".

Fr. John was told Thursday night he would be on list and removed from ministry and would have to vacate rectory by Friday afternoon. I don't know if he was going to be originally on list or not, but I know he didn't know about it until Thursday night. I don't know if he knew about new allegation a month ago like the diocese, but the diocese was approached Thursday morning and told that CBS would be airing it that night. I don't know if that forced diocese hand, or if Fr John was already on list. My understanding is privately Fr. John is adamantly denying this new allegation, where as with the older allegation he has admitted crossing the line, but not in a sexual way.

To be clear I think with any allegation a priest should be removed from ministry until proven innocent by law enforcement, not by the diocese. Any allegation should be reported to law enforcement immediately and they lead investigation from there. I'm in no way defending or endorsing Fr. John, just shedding some light on the subject.

Base upon your post, the Archdiocese is following the protocols of the Dallas Charter. It should be kept in mind that a "credible" allegation does not need to meet the standard of plausible or probable, but only possible and not obviously false. It has to be quite trying for a falsely accused priest to endure these precautionary measures especially under the current climate some bishops are reluctant to return priest even when independent law enforcement or lay-led review panels judge allegations to be unfounded.

yes I also don't know if he voluntarily offered to be removed or was forcibly removed. I didn't realize he was 71, and my understanding is he is tired of addressing the old allegation, and this new one took any fight out of him, he has health issues.

Again he could be a total liar and this all be true.

Priests have a fairly short window in the lives of the practicing religious to get a message across. Even the good priests out there are forced to address these issues in homilies repeatedly to the detriment of the message they entered into the vocation to carry.

Every homily about abusive priests displaces what should be the catalyst for a lifelong journey of spiritual growth of a parish gained through mass attendance, but perhaps it is necessary given what else we all hear outside the church.

Ask a modern non-Catholic American about the priesthood, and the first thing that pops into their head is sexual deviancy. I'd also guess that a degree of the same notion is at least considered in the minds of many faithful Catholics. Fair or not, one can see how that impression was built and how the Church's actions exacerbated the problem.

The denial, cover up and mismanagement of moral failure within the ranks of the Vatican is absolutely poisonous to its mission of bringing souls to Christ. Vatican leadership needs to get that first and foremost.