BishopAccountability.org
	Delays Cast Doubt on Laudable Efforts by Church The Patriot Ledger February 12, 2010 http://www.patriotledger.com/opinions/x687633571/Delays-cast-doubt-on-laudable-efforts-by-church EDITORIAL — It’s hard not to be impressed with recent efforts by the Archdiocese of Boston to promote healing and improve safeguards in the wake of a priest sex abuse scandal that shook local Catholics eight years ago. One important step came last month, when a church official came to a forum at Glastonbury Abbey in Hingham to discuss the issue, something that not long ago would have been unimaginable. Another was the archdiocese’s recent decision to hire a former prosecutor from the Plymouth County District Attorney’s office to lead the its new Office of Professional Standards and Oversight, which will investigate allegations of wrongdoing or impropriety by clergy or other diocesan workers. Yet with every positive step it takes in response to this crisis, the persistent stalling on a related issue becomes more glaring. A year after they were first asked, and eight months after saying a policy change was imminent, church officials have yet to release the names of all priests credibly accused of abuse. Their latest stance is that they may take action by the end of this year. As we said last year when this issue first arose, it is inconsistent to have a policy of publicly identifying priests removed from active ministry while being investigated on sex abuse accusations and a policy to protect the identities of those who have been credibly accused in the past. It’s frustrating that the archdiocese should in many ways be in the vanguard in dealing with the aftermath of this scandal and yet drag its feet on this one issue. More than 20 other dioceses across the country have published such lists, the most recent one in Fairbanks, Alaska. Hundreds of priests in the Boston archdiocese were pulled from parishes and dropped out of sight as the clergy sex abuse scandal reached its height in 2002. Among them were dozens who had been assigned to South Shore churches. Most priests accused of sexual abuse never went to trial, in large part because of the statute of limitations. No one but the church knows where many of them are. “A list is warranted and necessary,” said Anne Southwood of Marshfield, chairwoman of Voice of the Faithful’s Boston-area council. “We need all the information we can get for the greater good – the protection of children.” The archdiocese has spent $8.3 million to reimburse 850 victims and family members for therapy and counseling. It has taken laudable steps toward healing and prevention. Repeatedly delaying the release of a list of credibly accused priests undermines those effort and unnecessarily casts doubt on the archdiocese’s willingness to put community safety above all else.
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