DELAWARE
The News Journal
By STEVEN CHURCH
The News Journal
11/20/2005
When the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops commissioned a study of priest abuse in 2002, America's bishops began searching through the "secret archives" they are required to keep on every Roman Catholic priest under their authority.
The goal was to count the number of priests who had "credible allegations" of abuse made against them from 1950 through 2003.
One of the largest religious orders in Delaware, the Oblates of St. Francis de Sales, searched their confidential files to put together a list of names. The head of the order, the Rev. Joseph G. Morrissey, then sent the initials of one or more priests, along with their dates of birth, to researchers at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York.