Archdiocese of New Orleans pushed confidential settlements with victims of monstrous deacon George Brignac
Lawyers representing the church or its insurers took a hard line, arguing that plaintiffs had waited too long, and that they would be lucky to get anything. Author: David Hammer / Eyewitness Investigator, Ramon Antonio Vargas / The New Orleans Advocate Published: 10:58 AM CST December 18, 2020 Updated: 10:25 PM CST December 18, 2020
NEW ORLEANS The email to the Archdiocese of New Orleans came in on a Friday in November 2018.
A week earlier, New Orleans Archbishop Gregory Aymond had published a list of clergymen credibly accused of child molestation a first-ever effort by the leadership in this traditionally Catholic city to fully come clean about the depth of a scandal that blew up in 2002 and had begun to simmer again in the summer of 2018.
Losing Faith: Despite predatory past, deacon welcomed back to Catholic institutions
This is Part 2 in a three-part series on 50 years of pedophilia allegations against Catholic deacon George Brignac. Author: David Hammer, Ramon Antonio Vargas Published: 11:57 AM EST December 17, 2020 Updated: 9:35 PM EST December 18, 2020
NEW ORLEANS Anyone else in George Brignac’s shoes saddled with the disgrace that accompanies his name might have gotten the hell out of Dodge and tried to reinvent himself, to outrun the shame.
Over the 12 years he served as a deacon at Our Lady of the Rosary Church, beginning in 1976, Brignac had been accused of molesting at least five boys and was arrested by authorities at least three times.
A Monster in our Midst: The Story of George Brignac
It was 1953, and George Brignac was fresh out of high school when he joined the regional chapter of the Christian Brothers.
He spent seven years with the Catholic order, which founded four well-known local schools: St. Paul’s in Covington, De La Salle and Christian Brothers in New Orleans, and Archbishop Rummel in Metairie. But, by 1960, the order had expelled him.
Brignac told some people it was for “reasons of health.” Another time, his superior in the order said Brignac found “obedience difficult.”
Years later, his twin, a priest named Horace L. “H.L.” Brignac, revealed the truth in a statement to police: George Brignac had been “too friendly with boys.”
Losing Faith: Despite predatory past, deacon welcomed back to Catholic institutions
This is Part 2 in a three-part series on 50 years of pedophilia allegations against Catholic deacon George Brignac. Author: David Hammer, Ramon Antonio Vargas Published: 10:57 AM CST December 17, 2020 Updated: 8:35 PM CST December 18, 2020
NEW ORLEANS Anyone else in George Brignac’s shoes saddled with the disgrace that accompanies his name might have gotten the hell out of Dodge and tried to reinvent himself, to outrun the shame.
Over the 12 years he served as a deacon at Our Lady of the Rosary Church, beginning in 1976, Brignac had been accused of molesting at least five boys and was arrested by authorities at least three times.
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