The Roman Catholic Diocese of Rockford and an Algonquin man suing it over insulting remarks made by a priest about him in a homily have reached a tentative deal to settle out of court. The agreement could be finalized as early as Oct. 30 when lawyers for the diocese and plaintiff Angel Llavona are scheduled to appear in a McHenry County courtroom for a pretrial status hearing.
Neither side Friday would discuss the terms of the proposed deal.
"We have a tentative settlement, but we still have to hash out all the details," diocese attorney Dan Wiesch said.
Diocese spokeswoman Penny Wiegert declined further comment.
"Because the details of a settlement in this case are still being finalized, the diocese is reserving any comment at this time," she said.
Llavona attorney Dennis Favaro also declined to comment.
Llavona sued the diocese last year, claiming his priest, the Rev. Luis Alfredo Rios of St. Thomas the Apostle Church in Crystal Lake, defamed him and caused him emotional distress during an October 2006 homily.
According to the suit, Rios criticized Llavona's work in the church's religious education program and asked the congregation "What should we do, send him to hell or another parish?"
The remarks came about a week after Llavona left Rios a phone message critical of his sermons, saying "I have seen poor homilies, but yesterday broke all records."
Rios, Llavona claims, caused him emotional distress, damaged his reputation as good Catholic and called into question his teaching ability. Llavona is a teacher at Maine West High School in Des Plaines.
The lawsuit sought at least $50,000 in damages from Rios, the diocese and St. Thomas Pastor Daniel Hermes.
In March, McHenry County Judge Maureen McIntyre threw out much of the suit, ruling there was no evidence Llavona's religious or professional reputation were harmed by Rios' remarks.
However, she left standing portions of the lawsuit claimed Rios used his pulpit to cause Llavona emotional distress.
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(Source: DH)