Judge throws out most of slander suit by parishioner against priest

A McHenry County judge Wednesday tossed out most of a lawsuit claiming a Crystal Lake priest defamed one of his parishioners during Mass, ruling there is no indication the remarks damaged the man's reputation as a high school teacher.

But Judge Maureen McIntyre left standing a portion of the suit accusing the Rev. Luis Alfredo Rios of St. Thomas the Apostle Church of using his pulpit to cause his parishioner emotional distress.

"The pleadings (in the lawsuit) are sufficient for a claim of intentional infliction of emotional distress," McIntyre ruled.

The decision is the first major action on the case since Algonquin resident Angel Llavona sued Rios and the Catholic Diocese of Rockford in October, claiming the priest impugned his reputation as a good Catholic and as a teacher during an October 2006 service.

Llavona, who is seeking at least $50,000 in damages, claims Rios criticized his work with the church's religious education program and asked fellow parishioners: "What should we do, send him to hell or another parish?"

The remarks, the lawsuit claims, came in retaliation for a phone message Llavona left on the priest's e-mail weeks earlier that was critical of Rios' sermons. Rios played that message for the congregation during the same October Mass he criticized Llavona, the suit states.

In court Wednesday, McIntyre dismissed portions of the suit alleging Rios' remarks, particularly the criticism of his work in religious education, harmed his reputation as a teacher at Maine West High School in Des Plaines.

"This statement could mean any number of things," the judge ruled. "It doesn't say anything about his teaching."

McIntyre said the court also could not rule on whether the priest's remarks damaged Llavona's reputation as a good Catholic, saying that would require the court go beyond its authority and evaluate the church's teachings and rules.

However, the judge rejected claims by the diocese that any involvement by the court would be a violation of the First Amendment and the separation of church and state.

Greg Snyder, an attorney for Rios and the diocese, argued courts have no authority to judge statements made by clergy during religious proceedings.

"To evaluate those words would essentially require the court to prefer one church over another, something that is forbidden by the First Amendment," he said. "Whether it was a nice thing to do, or the right thing to do, is something that is not within the court's providence."

McIntyre disagreed, saying not all speech by religious figures is protected and that a court could evaluate Rios' words without evaluating the church itself.

"I don't have to examine the practices of the church, its dogma or theological matters," she said.

As part of her ruling Wednesday, McIntyre also dismissed Monsignor Daniel Hermes, pastor at St. Thomas, from the case, leaving the diocese and Rios as the remaining defendants. The case is next scheduled to be in court May 14 for a pretrial status hearing.