BishopAccountability.org
	Statement from the Archdiocese of St. Paul, Mpls. WCCO April 8, 2009 http://wcco.com/miscellaneous/archdiocese.statement.minneapolis.2.979980.html MINNESOTA — Today's news media reports stating that the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis is "unwilling to publicly disclose the names of priests accused of abuse" over the past 50 years, unfortunately do not accurately state the Archdiocese's position on this matter. When contacted by a reporter with a voice mail after hours, the Archdiocese had no opportunity to present key facts and the reasons for its position. The facts are these: • The list of names ordered by the court to be released to attorney Jeffrey Anderson on December 5, 2008 contained a total of 33 names. Of this number, 23 names of priests charged with abuse have already been made public either because of litigation or by disclosure by the Archdiocese. The remaining 10 have never been charged criminally or civilly of any crime of abuse. None are involved in active ministry any longer and at least one is believed to be deceased. Just as the law provides protection for all of us from unproven accusations, we believe it wrong for this information to be disclosed until the judge who will hear this evidence decides it should be released. • The Archdiocese had only moved for a protective order regarding the names of these ten priests until the Second Judicial District Court has ruled on the admissibility of this information. Permitting plaintiff to disclose the identity of those priests before the Court had the opportunity of rule on the admissibility of this evidence would be highly prejudicial. • We believe it is grossly unfair and highly inaccurate to characterize this as an attempt to keep this information secret. We have consistently communicated the intent to disclose this information, subject to appropriate safeguards for the people against whom the allegations may have been made and for those who made allegations to the Archdiocese in confidence. • In 2004, the Archdiocese issued a press release disclosing the results of an independent review of its sexual abuse complaints by clergy covering the prior 50 years. The review found that a total of 26 diocesan priests had credible allegations of sexual abuse involving minors over that 50 year period. This represented 2.2 percent of the total number of diocesan priests who had served in the Archdiocese during that half century. If priests from religious orders and other dioceses who served here during that period are included in the total, then seven more priests, or a total of 33, were known to have accusations of abuse, representing 1.1 percent of all priests who served in the Archdiocese over those 50 years. Yet of these 33, 10 priests have never been charged either criminally or civilly. • Jeff Anderson appears bent on distracting s the public from all of the good work done by the Archdiocese in this area by dwelling on events that have occurred over some time ago. The Archdiocese is in full compliance with the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People adopted by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops in 2002. Over the past seven years, it has done background checks on over 50,000 clergy, teachers, employees and volunteers. Safe environment training has been given to over 100,000 children, parents, employees, teachers, volunteers and clergy. The Archdiocese also employs a full time Victim Assistance Coordinator to provide outreach to victims of abuse of any type over any period of time.
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