In a recent development, the Supreme Court of Louisiana has set a date for oral arguments in a case that has garnered significant attention.
Five men file suit against Vatican, dioceses, alleging abuse by Morvant
The Court's decision, granted on December 5, 2023, mandates that the case will proceed to oral argument during the Court's next available docket.
According to the memorandum, which can be read below, the rules dictate specific deadlines for the submission of briefs. The applicants must file their briefs by January 2, 2024, and respondents by January 19, 2024.
The lawsuit originally filed in 2018 accuses the church of knowing that the late Rev. Monsignor Kenneth Romain Morvant sexually abused children.
The List Accusations of Abuse in The Diocese of Lafayette
In January 2019, fifteen years after acknowledging it exists, and months after promising its release, the Diocese of Lafayette still had not released a list of priests who have faced credible accusations of sexual abuse involving children. KATC Investigates released its own list in January 2019. You can read that list here. KATC's investigative team won an Emmy for the project. You can read about that here.
In April 2019, the Diocese released its list. A few days before that happened, Bishop J. Douglas Deshotel issued a statement about the process used to create that list. In it, he acknowledges that the early response of the Church was "inadequate and wrong," because it focused on protecting "the institution" instead of listening to victims and trying to help them.
Deshotel said he wanted the review for credible accusations to span the entire 100 years that the Lafayette Diocese has existed, because he wanted to be sure that no accusation was missed.
To do that, a group of lay leaders reviewed more than 300,000 pages of documents, including the personnel files of more than 800 clerics who had worked for the church since the Diocese was founded in 1918, Deshotel said. That group passed their findings on to a review board made up of members of the law enforcement, psychology and education communities, and their findings, in turn, were sent to Deshotel.
The bishop estimated that more than 700 hours of work was invested in the reviews. Since that time, names have been added to the Diocese's list. You can see the current list on the Diocese website here.
That website also has information on the Safe Environment initiative, aimed at helping folks who have suffered abuse, or who suspect it may be happening. To visit that page, click here.
Here's that statement:
How to get help
KATC recognizes that hearing these stories will trigger memories and anguish for victims.
If you’ve been the victim of a sexual assault and you need help, there is help available.
We’ve put together a list of locations to find help, and numbers to call for help. You can find it here.
If you believe that a crime has been committed, please call your local law enforcement, or dial 911.
