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	Lay Groups: Prevent "Backslide into Secrecy" By Kathryn Marchocki New Hampshire Union Leader February 10, 2009 http://www.unionleader.com/article.aspx?headline=Lay+groups%3A+Prevent+%27backslide+into+secrecy%27&articleId=462ffbf9-73f2-4e26-b0e9-3cf389923ffb MANCHESTER – With more than six years of court-ordered state oversight of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Manchester's child protection policies possibly ending, leaders of two national lay groups yesterday called for action to prevent what they called a "backslide into secrecy." They urged state Attorney General Kelly A. Ayotte to retain state oversight of the diocese's files and child protection policies and practices. And they asked Manchester Bishop John B. McCormack to update Catholics on clergy and other diocesan personnel who have been accused of child sexual abuse. "Stop leaving the public in the dark," Anne Barrett Doyle, co-director of BishopAccountability.org, and David Clohessy, executive director of Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, wrote the bishop in a letter that asks for a new phase of accountability to New Hampshire Catholics. While the diocese has reported allegations of child sexual abuse to the state Attorney General's Office as mandated by the 2002 agreement it struck with the state, it has withheld this information from the public, they said. Doyle and Clohessy said the public still doesn't know how many child sexual abuse allegations have been brought against clergy, religious and lay employees in the diocese since then. "It's vitally important to their victims who are out there who are afraid to come forward," Doyle said. The public also doesn't know where accused clergy, religious and diocesan personnel are living, whether they are being monitored or paid by the diocese, and if they have been returned to ministry or not, she said. She noted that she knows of five clerics accused of abuse who have lived at Bishop Peterson Residence for retired priests. As part of the agreement the diocese struck with the state on Dec. 10, 2002, the state released the files of 35 diocesan priests, five religious brothers and 19 priests from Boston archdiocese who were accused of sexually abusing minors in New Hampshire over a 40-year period ending in the 1980s. BishopAccountability.org, a Boston-based watchdog and education group, has been able to track 65 clerics who have been accused of abuse since then, Doyle said. But the diocese has not released their names. Senior Assistant Attorney General N. William Delker said his office received 158 new child sexual abuse allegations against clergy, religious and laity in the diocese since the 2002 agreement. The "vast majority" of new allegations were made against priests identified in the 2002 investigation by additional victims who came forward after the agreement, Delker said. Standing on the sidewalk in front of the diocesan chancery with about nine supporters, Clohessy and Doyle called on the bishop to publicize the names of those accused since 2002 and update the status of those previously alleged to have abused children. They presented their demands to Kevin Donovan, the diocese's spokesman who greeted them at the door and told them the bishop was out of state. "I can tell you we are doing everything we can to protect children," Donovan said. The diocese posts the number of allegations it receives each year, Donovan said earlier over the telephone. But diocesan policy no longer allows for public disclosure of the names of the accused, he said. Beginning in February 2002, the bishop released the names of priests accused of clergy sexual abuse. That practice ended with the 2002 agreement with the state, Donovan said. Doyle said the small sidewalk demonstration was timed to coincide with the deadline Ayotte set for the bishop to present her with an action plan on how it would address deficiencies cited in the fourth and final independent audit of the diocese. Ayotte last month praised results of the last audit, saying the diocese made such dramatic improvements in protecting children that she is confident it will continue its programs after state oversight ends. She said state oversight will end if the action plan is satisfactory. Either side has 30 days to go to court requesting an extension of the agreement.
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