CHICAGO (IL)
ABC 7
By Theresa Gutierrez
March 21, 2006 - Roman Catholics reacted Tuesday to a list of priests accused of sexual misconduct. The list was released Monday by the Archdiocese of Chicago. It includes 17 names of priests who had not been associated with the church sex abuse scandal, until now.
That list was released with a report that showed many priests accused of sexual misconduct have been allowed to remain anonymous. The report also says there were a number of occasions when church officials could have removed accused priests from ministry but did not.
A recent independent auditing report criticizes Chicago Roman Catholic officials for their handling of sex abuse allegations against Rev. Daniel McCormack, as well as the archdiocese, procedures for monitoring priests accused of abusing minors.
"I give the archdiocese credit for putting those reports out in full, not pulling any punches," said Catholic Theological Union president Father Donald Senior in a telephone interview.
"I guess my first response is terrible sadness. Most especially for the young people involved, the victims, the children, for their families, for its effects on them, and on the church as a whole. As a priest, I find this whole thing to be embarrassing," said Rev. Robin Ryan, Catholic Theological Union.
Father Ryan said he was disappointed with the monitoring system for accused pedophile priests.