Expand / Collapse search
Watch TV
Menu

This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. ©2024 FOX News Network, LLC. All rights reserved. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. Market data provided by Factset. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. Legal Statement. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper.

RELIGION

Texas couple stands by story after US cardinal pushes back

Associated Press
Published | Updated
  • 152ce9be-
    Image 1 of 2

    Laura Pontikes pauses during an interview in the prayer section of her apartment in Houston on April 13, 2019. The 55-year-old Texas construction company executive and mother of three had been seeking God when she began spiritual counselling with Monsignor Frank Rossi. The Galveston-Houston archdiocese acknowledged a sexual relationship between Rossi and Pontikes, but asserted that it was consensual. (AP Photo/Wong Maye-E)

  • c1465bf6-
    Image 2 of 2

    Cardinal Daniel DiNardo presides over a Mass of Ordination for seven candidates for the priesthood at the Co-Cathedral of the Sacred Heart in Houston Saturday, June 1, 2019. DiNardo, leading the U.S. Catholic Church's sex abuse response, has been accused of mishandling a case where his deputy allegedly manipulated a woman into a sexual relationship, even as he counselled her husband and solicited their donations. The Galveston-Houston archdiocese acknowledged a sexual relationship between Monsignor Frank Rossi and parishioner Laura Pontikes, but asserted that it was consensual. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

VATICAN CITY – A Texas couple that accused top U.S. Cardinal Daniel DiNardo of mishandling a sexual misconduct case says his office is treating them the way the church treats other victims — by trying to discredit their story.

DiNardo's Galveston-Houston diocese has said that it "categorically rejects" an Associated Press story about the case as biased and one-sided, and that the couple fabricated quotes and demanded a $10 million payout. George Pontikes, the leader of a construction firm, said he stands by his comments.

Laura Pontikes had accused DiNardo's former deputy of manipulating her into a sexual relationship, even as he heard her confessions, gave counseling on their marriage to her husband and solicited hundreds of thousands of dollars in donations from the couple. Pontikes said the deputy took sexual and financial advantage of problems in her marriage and the business the couple share.