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Catholic Priest Solicited Murder of Teen Accusing Him of Sex Abuse

A Texas Roman Catholic priest, already facing criminal charges and a civil lawsuit alleging that he sexually abused a teenage boy, now faces charges of attempting to hire someone to kill the 18-year-old college student, reports CNN. The Rev. John M. Fiala is booked in the Dallas County Jail and charged with criminal solicitation to commit capital murder and two counts of aggravated sexual assault of a child.

He was arrested last week after he offered an undercover agent with the Texas Department of Public Safety $5,000 to kill the teen, according to department spokeswoman Lisa Block. ... The Department of Public Safety and its Texas Ranger Division got involved, sending the undercover agent to speak with Fiala, Rhodes said. The conversation was caught on video and audiotape. gunpoint, reports CNN.

The youth met Fiala in 2007. The attorney said the priest started "grooming him," buying him gifts including a computer and a car. In early 2008, when the boy was 16, under the guise of providing private catechism lessons, Fiala "gained access to him and began to sexually abuse him once or twice a month, including on church grounds," said [Tom Rhodes, the teen's attorney]. Fiala allegedly threatened to kill the youth if he told anyone -- threats he repeated in daily text messages, Rhodes said, and Fiala also threatened to kill himself, telling the teen they would "go to heaven together."

The teen, after struggling with the abuse, told a school counselor, who notified authorities, Rhodes said. He filed suit in April against Fiala, as well as the archdioceses of San Antonio, Texas, and Omaha, Nebraska—where Fiala was before Texas—and Fiala's religious order, the Society of Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity, the attorney said.

The 18-year-old "was attending college but had to withdraw" and go into hiding after learning the priest abuser was soliciting his murder.

The suit claims the San Antonio and Omaha archdioceses, as well as the religious order, covered up the abuse. After the priest was indicted in September, he fled to Kansas and was extradited to Texas.

The Rev. John M. Fiala has not been defrocked—yet. The Catholic Archdiocese of El Paso and San Antonio is probably too busy comparing gays to rapists and isn't sure how to respond to actual rapists in their own churches.

Omaha City Council Rejects LGBT Anti-Discrimination Ordinance 3-3

Omaha, Nebraska has narrowly rejected a proposed LGBT anti-discrimination ordinance and the City Council will consider bringing the issue to a public vote, reports the World Herald.

"After nearly five hours of discussion, the ordinance failed on a 3-3 vote. Councilmen Ben Gray, Pete Festersen and Chris Jerram voted in favor; Jean Stothert, Garry Gernandt and Thomas Mulligan were opposed. Councilman Franklin Thompson, who has called for a public vote on the issue, abstained. ... Gray, author of the ordinance, proposed that gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgender people be a protected class under city code protection they don't currently have under state or federal law. The change would have affected Omaha employers. Gray had amended the proposal to exclude religious organizations.The council held a packed public hearing Tuesday on a separate proposal introduced by Thompson to put the issue to a public vote in the form of an amendment to the City Charter. The vote on Thompson's measure is expected next week. ... Gay rights advocates... said a public vote would likely cause more problems. They said it was unfair to put a civil rights issue to a popular vote."

"Next week council members will vote on whether they want to add the issue to the ballot for the public to decide," reports CBS3. "The issue could also be pulled off the table entirely."

Councilman Ben Gray, a newly-elected councilmember, veteran broadcaster and civil rights advocate, proposed the ordinance a month ago, "hoping it would give gays and lesbians equal protection at work."

Omaha becomes the second major city in recent months to have a Black city council member propose a gay and/or trans inclusive non-discrimination ordinance. In July, Councilwoman Janis Fullilove received at least four death threats after sponsoring a similar bill in Memphis, Tennessee. That bill was later withdrawn due to non-support. Yet more reasons why we desperately need the Employment Non-Discrimination Act ...