By Donna Diegel
Examiner
December 29, 2009
http://www.examiner.com/x-31031-Providence-Headlines-Examiner~y2009m12d29-Guilty-priests-BishopAccountabilityorg-tracks-clergy-sex-offenders
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| Irish Cardinal Sean Brady |
The Names of 3300 Pedophile Priests accused of sexual abuse, are now available on bishopaccountability.org. An online registry of sex offending priests and clergy, the website makes these lists available to the public. Victims asked the Roman Catholic Church to release more information on Monday in a Providence news conference.
Providence, Rhode Island News Conference
A news conference was held outside a Providence church on Monday, December 28th. Two victims, Helen McGonigle and Jeffrey Thomas, both 48, stood on the steps of Saints Peter and Paul church, and asked the Roman Catholic Church to release more information regarding priests accused of sexual molestation. Alleged sexual abuse and rape victims complained that Bishop Thomas Tobin was not forthcoming with the names of Irish priests accused of sexual abuse. Tobin was not available for comment.
Irish Priest Father Brendan Smyth
McGonigle and Thomas claim they were raped by Reverend Brendan Smyth while he was assigned to Our Lady of Mercy in East Greenwich from 1965 to 1968. Smyth was a visiting Irish priest in the late 1960s when he began raping McGonigle and Thomas. They were six years old at the time. The projo.com reports, "Smyth had been sent to Rhode Island in 1965 after molesting children in Northern Ireland. Smyth was charged with 74 counts in the Republic of Ireland and 17 in Northern Ireland." Smyth was accused and convicted of rape and child molesting, and died in 1997 in a Belfast prison.
The projo.com continues, "On Monday, the group (McGonigle, Thomas and two others) posted a list of Irish priests who have worked in the United States and have been accused of sexual misconduct. And bishopaccountability.org sent letters to Cardinal Sean O’Malley of the Boston archdiocese and Bishop Thomas Tobin of the Providence diocese, asking that they search their personnel files for information about accused Irish priests who had served in their areas."
Providence Diocese
The Providence Diocese issued an announcement saying, "For a short time in the 1960s, he ( Rev. Smyth) was in ministry at Our Lady of
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