Priest's lawsuit takes aim at former clinic director

The Rev. Edouard Atangana, director of health care ministries at the Roman Catholic Diocese of Brownsville, has filed a lawsuit against Paul C. Kavanaugh, the former executive director of the diocese's Guadalupe Health Center in Harlingen for allegedly invading his privacy and committing libel and slander.

For his part, Kavanaugh said that all he has done is question Atangana's management of funds at the center that Atangana directs. Kavanaugh has raised financial issues and concerns in at least five letters that he wrote to Bishop Raymundo J. Peña last year. Kavanaugh sent copies of the letters to priests in the diocese.

Atangana, who also is the pastor of St. Mary Parish in Santa Rosa, filed the lawsuit against Kavanaugh in the state's 93rd District Court in Hidalgo County on Nov. 15. Kavanaugh was served Dec. 20.

Atangana, a 40-year-old priest originally from Cameroon, West Africa, is also the director of diaconate formation for the diocese. In the lawsuit, Atangana maintains that Kavanaugh has been making false statements against him since 2006, injuring his personal and professional reputation and impeaching his honesty and integrity.

McAllen attorney Raymond L. Thomas represents Atangana. Diocese spokeswoman Brenda Nettles Riojas acknowledged that the diocese did not join Atangana in the lawsuit. Nettles Riojas also said that the diocese is not paying Thomas' legal fees. Thomas could not be reached for comment.

Nettles Riojas said that the diocese has procedures and structures in place to ensure that its resources and funds are managed properly. "Mr. Kavanaugh's claims were found to be unsubstantiated following a thorough investigation. We are satisfied with our internal investigation and do not find the need to give his unfounded claims any credence," Nettles Riojas said in a statement issued Thursday.

Kavanaugh said he had been told that no financial discrepancies had been found, but, "I asked for the audit and it was not given to me."

Kavanaugh said Atangana fired him in 2006 and Kavanaugh maintains that he has not been questioning the management of the center in retaliation for his termination. Kavanaugh said he was fired when he began questioning operations.

"What I saw was unbelievable," Kavanaugh said of his short employment at the center from February 2006 through August that year.

"I have been careful to document everything I have asked. The lack of answers raise my suspicions," said Kavanaugh, who also said he secretly tape-recorded several conversations that he had with persons associated with the center.

Thomas warned Kavanaugh of a possible lawsuit on Oct. 31, 2008, which a letter that Kavanaugh provided to The Brownsville Herald reflects.

"For the past two years, you have continuously and maliciously defamed Fr. Atangana with an obvious intent to destroy him personally and professionally," Thomas wrote.

Thomas wrote, that in the letters from Kavanaugh to Peña, Kavanaugh falsely accused Atangana of financial irregularities and discrepancies at the center, misappropriation of diocesan funds, blatant irregularities in the financial management of funds passing through the center's checking account, mismanaging tens of thousands of dollars, violating federal wage and hour laws, and conspiring to commit illegal acts.

"Demand is hereby made for a complete and full retraction of all of these false statements as well as a public apology," wrote Thomas, noting that otherwise, the "full weight of the law" would be brought against Kavanaugh.

Neither came.

And Kavanaugh makes no apology.

But Kavanaugh did note in a letter to the bishop that he would gladly apologize if Peña and Atangana show him any documentation proving that his concerns and suspicions are untrue.

In his response to Thomas' letter, Kavanaugh wrote to Thomas: "The only thing that I really object to in your letter Mr. Thomas is your implication that Father Atangana is a victim of anything I have done, said or written. The only real victims here, as far as I am concerned, are the Catholic faithful of the Diocese of Brownsville who have given their money to support the works of the diocese with the assumption that diocesan finances are managed with integrity, honesty and openness."

In a recent interview with The Brownsville Herald, Kavanaugh said he also was fired several years ago from the Brownsville Community Health Center for alleged insubordination and he also was sued for libel in another lawsuit regarding his neighborhood's home association.

Following his terminations, Kavanaugh filed lawsuits against the Brownsville Community Health Center and the Diocese of Brownsville. Both cases were settled out of court and Kavanaugh said he could not talk about them due to settlement provisions.

Atangana also has been sued in state district court. In 2006, diocese employee Amy Joy Garcia sued Atangana for alleged sexual harassment, stalking, assault and battery and invasion of privacy. The diocese also was named as a defendant in that lawsuit. It was settled out of court in December 2007.

The Rev. Edouard Atangana, director of health care ministries at the Roman Catholic Diocese of Brownsville, filed a lawsuit in state court in Hidalgo County against Paul C. Kavanaugh, the former executive director of the diocese's Guadalupe Health Center, which operates as a non-profit organization in Harlingen. Atangana is alleging:

>Libel

>Slander

>Invasion of privacy

Atangana seeks an unspecified amount of money from Kavanaugh in actual and special damages, mental anguish and suffering. Atangana also seeks a permanent injunction against Kavanaugh, stopping him from allegedly making false and defamatory statements.

Source: Public records