Crux

Church leaders in New Orleans knew of complaints against a priest now facing criminal trial on charges of serial sexual assault against multiple victims, but allowed the priest to continue in ministry for years, the archdiocese has admitted to Crux Now. Father Anthony Odiong, a 57-year-old native of Nigeria, served in Austin, TX, from 2006 to 2012 and in New Orleans, Louisiana, from 2015 to 2023, when the latter suspended him in the wake of an investigative exposé that revealed the cleric’s pattern of abusive behavior. In 2019, a full four years before the suspension, the Diocese of Austin told the New Orleans archdiocese of misconduct complaints against Odiong, but just like Austin, New Orleans decided against informing their parishioners, choosing instead to address the matter directly with the priest because the allegations “involved adults,” according to a statement. Under Texas state law, it is a felony for clergy or others with roles of pastoral or spiritual authority to exploit their position in obtaining another person’s participation in a sex act. In 2019, the Bishop of Austin was Joe S. Vasquez, who succeeded Cardinal Daniel DiNardo as Archbishop of Galveston-Houston in March of last year. Crux Now asked Vasquez why the Austin diocese did not warn the faithful about Odiong in 2019. He did not respond to requests for comment. The Archdiocese of New Orleans only removed Odiong in 2023, after The Guardian began publishing a series of investigative pieces leading to the priest’s arrest in July of 2024 for possession of child pornography. Prosecutors did not pursue the child pornography charge, which was based, according to sworn police statements, on images discovered during an investigation into criminal sexual assault complaints lodged by several different women against the priest. Odiong in New Orleans While in New Orleans, Odiong was the pastor of St. Anthony of Padua parish in Luling and served – among other roles and activities – as a part-time faculty member at New Orleans’s archdiocesan Notre Dame Seminary. Odiong had gone to New Orleans at the invitation of then-Archbishop Gregory Aymond, who had been appointed to lead the archdiocese in 2009. Aymond had been the Bishop of Austin from 2001 to 2009, and in 2006 had also invited Odiong to serve in Austin. Aymond’s tenure as Archbishop of New Orleans was troubled by several serious scandals stemming from the management of abuse cases and other clerical misconduct, and was dominated in its later years by archdiocesan bankruptcy proceedings. “A review of the Archdiocese of New Orleans’s records regarding Anthony Odiong shows that the misconduct reported from Austin involved adults,” the New Orleans archdiocese said in a statement to Crux Now. The archdiocese was responding to queries as part of a comprehensive Crux Now review of the management of the Odiong case by various Church leaders and jurisdictions, including New Orleans. “At that time,” the New Orleans statement continued, “archdiocesan officials chose to address the report directly with Odiong.” “The Archdiocese of New Orleans ultimately removed Odiong from ministry in 2023,” the statement continued. “At that time,” New Orleans said, “as additional information came to light, the archdiocese made a report to law enforcement who had already investigated the allegation.” Although New Orleans had a warning from Austin about Odiong in 2019, the Diocese of Austin also did not then warn its own faithful, even though the priest maintained strong ties and frequently visited the diocese. Austin and Fort Worth By late 2023, the investigative reporting by The Guardian had been picked up by local news outlets, and Austin had begun to make statements to diocesan parishes where Odiong had served. Austin’s statement of December 16, 2023, mentioned “allegations of sexual misconduct” against Odiong “from one or more adult women,” but did not specify that Austin had first heard those or similar allegations no later than 2019. Austin’s statement of February 24, 2024, made no mention of Odiong’s alleged sexual misconduct, but did say Odiong had been “informed that he no longer had permission to engage in any priestly ministry in the Diocese of Austin, nor could he visit any of the diocese’s parishes without prior permission.” Austin’s statement of February 24, 2024, did not specify when or why Odiong had been informed of those restrictions. Crux Now sent queries to Austin via email earlier this week asking for clarification in that regard and others. The diocese declined to answer, citing the criminal trial pending against the priest. In any case, the Diocese of Austin had alerted the neighboring Diocese of Fort Worth regarding Odiong nearly two full weeks before Austin issued its February 2024 statement to its own parishes. On February 12, 2024, the vicar general of Fort Worth issued a memo concerning Odiong to all clergy in the Fort Worth diocese and asked that the memo be published in bulletins, websites, and across parish social media accounts. The Fort Worth memo painted the picture of a rogue priest “believed to be residing within the Diocese of Austin,” ministering without license from local Church authority and in defiance of his own bishop’s order to return home. The Fort Worth memo made no mention of sexual or other misconduct. Crux Now sent email queries to Fort Worth asking when, precisely, Austin informed the diocese regarding Odiong’s presence and unsanctioned activity, and whether Austin also informed Fort Worth – in 2024 or at any other time – of the misconduct complaints Austin had received against Odiong no later than 2019. Crux Now also asked whether Austin had informed Fort Worth of those misconduct complaints, and if so, how Austin had characterized them. Crux Now asked Fort Worth whether the diocese had knowledge of any sexual misconduct complaints against Odiong – some of which, by February 2024, were a matter of public record – and why Fort Worth did not mention them to the faithful in the memo published throughout the diocese if it did. Those queries were sent by email on Wednesday of this week and received no reply or acknowledgment of receipt at the time of publication. Odiong’s criminal trial is slated to begin on Tuesday, May 26, 2026, before the 19th District Court, at the McLennan County Courthouse in Waco, TX. Follow Chris Altieri on X: @craltieri

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