Check out the CURRENT EVENTS page for more info on what the Pope is doing!

art14

FORT WORTH - The Vatican has taken the rare step of returning convicted pedophile priest Rudolph "Rudy" Kos, 53, to lay status -- stripping him of his priesthood and barring him from any church ministry. The Diocese of Dallas asked the Vatican to act. The Vatican did not, however, take the step of nullifying his ordination, which would mean that Kos never was a validly ordained priest. Kos is serving a life sentence in prison for molesting altar boys. The scandal led to a record $119.6 million verdict against the Diocese of Dallas, the largest clergy sexual abuse award in US history, though it was later greatly reduced. In a criminal trial later, Kos was convicted of sexual assault and indecency charges for molesting four boys more than 1,350 times between 1987 and 1992. Kos, who pleaded guilty to some assault and indecency charges, was suspended from his priestly functions and benefits in 1993, shortly after accusations surfaced. The Vatican's action also relieves the Dallas Diocese of financial responsibility for Kos if he ever is released from prison. 7/9 Associated Press SAN ANTONIO -- A parish pastor has been removed from his duties after he was accused of sexually assaulting an altar boy 22 years ago, the Archdiocese of San Antonio said. Parishioners learned of the accusation against Fr. Jose Luis Sandoval at Sunday Mass. Sandoval, has denied the allegation made by a man now 33 years old. No charge was ever filed. Disbelief, tears, yelling and clapping were the responses at a meeting the next night, when Msgr. Lawrence Stuebben of the archdiocese met with parishioners to discuss the accusation against Sandoval. At one point, the man making the accusation approached the pulpit and told the crowd in a wavering voice he had been abused. He alleges the incident took place 22 years ago when Sandoval was an associate pastor in San Antonio. The man is not a parishioner of the church. The archdiocese learned of the allegation on June 5, a day after Archbishop Patrick Flores announced a $4 million settlement in a civil lawsuit filed by the families of seven boys who accused Fr. Xavier Ortiz-Dietz of sexual misconduct. Ortiz-Dietz is serving a 20-year sentence after pleading no contest in 1993 to 3 sexual abuse charges involving altar servers. "The report indicated that the information was believable, though Fr. Sandoval denied the allegations," Stuebben told the parishioners. The archbishop requested a meeting with Sandoval June 9 after he was relieved of his duties, Stuebben said, adding that Sandoval did not show up. "Sandoval did not come to see the archbishop. In fact, he left the parish that night," he said. "We do not know where he is. He simply left the parish." A review of Sandoval's personnel file revealed a complaint was filed against him in Sabinal in 1985 involving an alleged inappropriate advance toward a teen-ager, Stuebben said. 6/23 Associated Press