NUMBER 13-19-00412-CV
COURT OF APPEALS
THIRTEENTH DISTRICT OF TEXAS
CORPUS CHRISTI – EDINBURG
MSGR. MICHAEL HERAS, Appellant,
v.
THE DIOCESE OF CORPUS CHRISTI
AND BISHOP WILLIAM MICHAEL MULVEY, Appellees.
On appeal from the 319th District Court
of Nueces County, Texas.
NUMBER 13-19-00413-CV
COURT OF APPEALS
THIRTEENTH DISTRICT OF TEXAS
CORPUS CHRISTI – EDINBURG
FR. JOHN FEMINELLI, Appellant,
v.
THE DIOCESE OF CORPUS CHRISTI
AND BISHOP WILLIAM MICHAEL MULVEY, Appellees.
On appeal from the 319th District Court
of Nueces County, Texas.
ORDER OF ABATEMENT
Before Chief Justice Contreras and Justices Longoria and Hinojosa
Order Per Curiam
In appellate cause 13-19-00412-CV, appellant Monsignor Michael Heras brought
suit against appellees the Diocese of Corpus Christi and the Most Reverend Michael
Mulvey for defamation. In appellate cause 13-19-00413-CV, Father John Feminelli also
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brought suit against the appellees for defamation. The cases are intertwined because
both Heras and Feminelli sued appellees for being included on a publicly published list of
clergy members “credibly accused” of sexual abuse of a minor. The appellees responded
with pleas to the jurisdiction based on ecclesiastical abstention. The trial court granted
both pleas, dismissing Heras’s and Feminelli’s cases.
These cases are both under submission before this Court following oral argument
held on April 9, 2020. In their briefs, appellants and appellees heavily reference a case
out of the Amarillo Court of Appeals. See In re Diocese of Lubbock, 592 S.W.3d 196, 198
(Tex. App.—Amarillo 2019, pet. filed). The Texas Supreme Court granted review of this
case and heard argument on the case on January 6, 2021. Appellants argue that In re
Diocese is “virtually identical” to the present case. Although appellees attempt to
distinguish In re Diocese, the case undoubtedly involves similar facts and circumstances
as Heras’s and Feminelli’s causes. In the In re Diocese case, Deacon Jesus Guerrero
sued the Diocese of Lubbock for defamation for including him on a list of clergy who had
been “credibly accused” of sexual abuse of a minor. See id. The case discusses the
doctrine of ecclesiastical abstention and whether that bars the former clergy member’s
suit for defamation, which is highly relevant to the present case.
On its own motion, the Court, having reexamined and reconsidered the documents
on file, finds that these appeals should be abated in the interest of judicial economy until
such time as the Texas Supreme Court may decide the issues presented in In re Diocese
of Lubbock. Accordingly, we hereby ABATE the appeals until further order of this Court.
PER CURIAM
Delivered and filed on the
12th day of February, 2021.
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