Suit over Edinburg priest’s affair settled

The Catholic Diocese of Brownsville last week settled a lawsuit filed by a man who says an Edinburg priest’s affair with his wife tore his family apart.

 

 

According to court documents, Jose Gonzalez and the diocese agreed to dismiss all claims and counterclaims against each other, with each side paying for its own court costs and legal expenses.

 

Both parties also requested a guardian ad litem be appointed to represent the interests of Gonzalez and Sylvia Vega’s youngest child, who is still a minor.

 

It’s not clear what the diocese and Gonzalez agreed to in the settlement. 

 

Neither side responded to requests for comment about it.

 

Originally, Gonzalez sued for damages exceeding $1 million.

 

That suit, filed in December by Gonzalez on behalf of himself and four of Vega’s children, claimed that Father Alejandro Flores’ affair with Vega had driven a wedge between her and her family.

 

Flores most recently served as the priest of St. Joseph Catholic Church in Edinburg, though he exited that position after Gonzalez filed his suit and appears to still be on leave.

 

According to the suit, Flores and Vega had a long running romantic relationship that went back at least as far as 2010, when Flores was a priest in Weslaco and Vega was a catechism class teacher.

 

The diocese removed Vega from that position and transferred Flores to another church just before Gonzalez and Vega’s child was born around 2011, the suit said.

 

Gonzalez claimed that Flores and Vega’s relationship smoldered for about a decade but reignited in 2022, when the diocese made Flores priest at St. Joseph’s, where Vega was a parishioner.

 

 

Suspicious of his wife’s behavior, Gonzalez began tracking her car remotely to a diocese-owned property Vega frequently parked at for extended periods of time.

 

He also hired a private investigator, who took photos of Flores and Vega kissing at a McAllen restaurant.

 

The relationship between Flores and Vega, Gonzalez said, caused Vega to become distant from her family and negatively impacted the happiness and mental health of her children.

 

Gonzalez alleged Flores’ actions as one of the diocese’s priests amounted to intentional infliction of emotional distress and gross negligence.