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	Critics Demand Names of All Priests Accused of Sex Abuse By Brian Fraga The Standard-Times June 26, 2010 http://www.southcoasttoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100626/NEWS/6260329 The Diocese of Fall River shot back at criticisms this week from a group of lay Catholics who rallied Thursday to call on Bishop George W. Coleman to release the names of all priests credibly accused of sexual abuse. "The diocese has had a policy since 1995 where we have published the names of each priest against whom a credible allegation has been made," said John Kearns, diocese spokesman. Kearns noted Friday that in the last two years, the diocese has released the names of three priests accused of sexual misconduct. Kearns said those notifications were sent to media outlets, the affected parish communities were notified and information posted on the diocesan website. However, members of the local branch of Voice of the Faithful, a lay organization founded in response to the 2002 sex abuse crisis that rocked the Catholic Church in the United States, say Coleman has not gone far enough to inform the public about priests suspected of sexual abuse. "We are certain that the bishop is suppressing information that he shouldn't be suppressing and that he has a much longer list of credibly accused predators," said Anne Barrett Doyle, co-director of BishopAccountability.org, a website that documents sex abuse by priests and how individual dioceses handle those cases. Doyle's group organized rallies Thursday outside the offices of the state's four Catholic bishops in Fall River, Boston, Springfield and Worcester. The parishioners who gathered Thursday outside Coleman's offices on Underwood Street in Fall River said the bishop has refused to disclose a comprehensive list of all accused priests. "We've never been given all the names and the whereabouts of those priests. We want to know where these people are and if they are still being paid for in retirement by the diocese," said Anne Hart, a parishioner at St. Elizabeth Seton in North Falmouth. Hart has been active member of Voice of the Faithful since the local chapter's inception in 2002. "We want more transparency," she said. "We want the name of anyone credibly accused of hurting any child." In 2004, Coleman wrote a pastoral letter that outlined the diocese's response to abuse complaints. The letter said 32 diocesan priests had been accused of sexual misconduct involving minors dating back to 1954. That figure represented 2.365 percent of the 1,353 priests who were active during those 50 years. Critics are skeptical that only 2 percent of priests were accused during that time frame. "It is an unrealistically low percentage," Doyle said. Critics also say it took action by former Bristol County District Attorney Paul F. Walsh Jr. to release the names of some of the accused priests. "It ranks as one of those acts of courage and moral responsibility by a law enforcement official," Doyle said. In September 2002, Walsh released a list of 20 accused priests who were never prosecuted because the statute of limitations had run out in all the cases in question. At the time, Walsh criticized the outgoing bishop, Sean Patrick O'Malley, the current archbishop of Boston, for sitting on the cases. The Diocese of Fall River disputed Walsh's account. Kearns said O'Malley, in fact, contacted the district attorney's offices to offer the priests' names. Some of the 32 accused priests appear to have been deceased at the time of Coleman's letter. Hart called on Coleman to release those names, as well, saying it would give validation to the alleged victims. Kearns presented the other side of the argument. "You would be putting out allegations against somebody unable to defend themselves," Kearns said. Contact: bfraga@s-t.com
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