A Louisiana church where a Roman Catholic priest served as pastor before being recently convicted in Texas of criminal clergy sexual assault and sentenced to life in prison has been criticized by his victims and their supporters for soliciting prayers on his behalf in a parochial bulletin published after his guilty verdict – which neglected to mention the survivors.
One of the two women whom Anthony Odiong was convicted of assaulting in Waco, Texas – identified in court proceedings as Mary Doe – issued a statement on Tuesday encouraging St Anthony of Padua’s community in the New Orleans suburb of Luling, Louisiana, to pray for his victims, too.
The other of those women in Waco, given the pseudonym Jane Doe in court, said in her own statement that her “honest response is sadness, not anger”.
Attorney Kristi Schubert, who represents yet another woman who publicly spoke out about Odiong, said she was “profoundly disappointed” the bulletin had not published a corresponding intention “saying something vague like ‘for survivors of clergy abuse’”.
Similarly, Letitia Peyton, the executive director of the TentMakers non-profit organization, which supports Catholic clergy sexual abuse survivors, said it was not wrong to offer sincere prayers for repentance. Yet “a parish that can publicly intercede for an [adjudicated] abuser but cannot bring itself to name or pray for his victims sends a clear message, whether it intends or not: that the comfort of the community and the reputation of the church matter more than the cries of the wounded”.
St Anthony removed a copy of the bulletin in question from its website after the Guardian asked the archdiocese of New Orleans, to which the church belongs, about Odiong’s inclusion in what are known as mass intentions. An archdiocesan spokesperson provided a statement saying a congregant requested Odiong’s inclusion citing Catholics’ call to pray for “those who have turned away from God to turn back towards His mercy”.
“While there is much pain in the [church] from all this, they are certainly praying for all who were hurt by Odiong’s actions, including primarily the women and their families,” the statement said.
The statement also said New Orleans’s archbishop, James Checchio, who took office in February, “has instructed the pastor to be sure they are included in their prayers in the coming weeks”.
A state jury in Waco convicted Odiong on Friday of having committed first- and second-degree sexual assault by exploiting his spiritual authority as a clergyman to pursue a years-long physical relationship with Mary Doe and to separately compel Jane Doe to yield to a form of intercourse with another man that was painfully uncomfortable for her. Jurors on Tuesday then sentenced him to life imprisonment – with parole eligibility after 30 years – and fined him a total of $30,000.
Both lifelong Catholics’ charges against Odiong received corroboration from numerous other devout women who reported similar experiences after meeting him in his role as a priest, including at Luling’s St Anthony of Padua, where he worked between his time in Waco and eventual prosecution.
Among them were three of his St Anthony congregants. Two were assigned pseudonyms: Lisa Smith and Presley Jones, the latter of whom had a child with Odiong in the spring of 2023 despite his priestly promise of sexual celibacy, according to testimony at the trial which led to his conviction.
Odiong’s name by Friday had been removed from a chapel commemorating the Virgin Mary that he helped build next to St Anthony. That evidently resulted from a non-monetary provision of a $305m settlement that the New Orleans archdiocese and its insurers agreed to pay to clergy abuse survivors as part of a bankruptcy protection case stemming from the worldwide church’s decades-old clerical molestation scandal.
Nonetheless, Odiong’s name was conspicuously included in a list of intentions for upcoming masses in St Anthony’s bulletin for the week preceding 7 June.
Intentions essentially dedicate prayers at a mass for a person or a cause. And the bulletin listed Odiong among intentions for the 11am Sunday mass at St Anthony on 14 June.
St Anthony’s website allows for the submission of a mass intention in exchange for a $5 donation. Odiong is listed in the bulletin along with several individuals for whom intentions were sent for that particular mass.
There are none for Lisa Smith, Presley Jones, Mary Doe, Jane Doe or Schubert’s client, Hadassah Doe – whose pseudonyms were widely publicized in news media outlets that covered Odiong’s trial and sentencing.
Additionally, in a section that solicits prayers for broad causes such as world peace, souls in purgatory and the needs of priests, there was no general intention for victims of the kind of abuse a jury determined Odiong had committed.
“Unfortunately, I’m not even surprised because abusive priests – even those who have been convicted of sexual abuse – are regularly given a level of public support that the victims can only dream of receiving,” Schubert said.
“Intentional or not, it sends a message to survivors of abuse who may be considering coming forward. It says, ‘If you come forward, your abuser will be supported, and you will be forgotten.’”
Peyton, whose son was molested by a priest for whom he was an altar server, was astounded when informed and asked about that omission. She said a church “to be faithful … must be a place where the tears of victims are seen and heard first – not overshadowed by misplaced sympathy for those who caused harm”.
Meanwhile, Jane Doe said it was clear to her that “a lot of people have yet to reckon with [the] fact” that Odiong had unduly “used the love and trust of communities”. “When they finally do,” she said, “it will be devastating.”
Mary Doe for her part said it was “right and just” to pray for “Odiong’s soul”. But, she said, so was imploring for the healing of both his former church community and his victims.
“Any other mass intention is a grievous scandal after his criminal conviction,” Mary Doe’s statement said.
Mary Doe saw an investigative report from the Guardian in February 2024 about a group of women – including Jane Doe – who had accused Odiong of sexual coercion, unwanted touching and abusive financial control upon meeting him in the course of his ministry.
Texas considers such conduct by a religious cleric to be felony sexual assault, prompting Mary Doe to report Odiong to the authorities, who subsequently convicted him.
The district attorney for the Waco area, Josh Tetens, said in a statement that his office was “most … grateful for the immeasurable courage of these brave survivors, in Texas and beyond, who have ensured that no more women will fall prey to Anthony Odiong”.
The New Orleans archdiocese’s statement on Tuesday said Catholics believe prayer for all “is a fundamental act of charity and … mercy”.
Its statement also said, “What Odiong is convicted of is reprehensible, and we are disgusted by the behavior revealed in trial.”
• Information and support for anyone affected by rape or sexual abuse issues is available from the following organizations. In the US, Rainn offers support on 800-656-4673. In the UK, Rape Crisis offers support on 0808 500 2222. In Australia, support is available at 1800Respect (1800 737 732). Other international helplines can be found at ibiblio.org/rcip/internl.html
