BishopAccountability.org
	Bishop Riles Abuse Groups By Bronislaus B. Kush Telegram & Gazette September 8, 2011 http://www.telegram.com/article/20110908/NEWS/109089423/-1/NEWS07 [Statement by Most Rev. Robert J. McManus, S.T.D., Bishop of Worcester] Victims’ advocacy groups say they are disappointed that Worcester Bishop Robert J. McManus has not followed the lead of Cardinal Sean P. O’Malley, who decided to release a partial list of priests and deacons accused of sexually abusing minors in the Archdiocese of Boston. Diocesan officials in Springfield also recently released a list. Local victims of sexual abuse by priests have lobbied Bishop McManus to draw up a list of clerical predators since his installation in 2004. “Bishop McManus is morally obligated to do so,” said Anne B. Doyle, co-director of BishopAccountability.org, which tracks accused priests nationwide. Local Roman Catholic Church leaders said they will closely monitor the decision by Cardinal O’Malley to determine whether they should follow suit. “We will monitor the results of the decision by the Archdiocese of Boston to determine if such a policy can, in fact, promote additional healing for those who have been harmed by the terrible crime of sexual abuse of a minor,” said Bishop McManus in a statement. The cardinal recently identified 159 priests or deacons accused of sexual misconduct in the archdiocese. However, the list, which has been posted on www.bostoncatholic.org, omits for a number of stated reasons about 100 priests who are, or, who have been under scrutiny. David Clohessy, the director of the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests, said 25 bishops across the country have released lists over the last nine years. “So, it’s disingenuous for Worcester’s bishop to pretend like it’s some untested theory,” Mr. Clohessy said. “Kids will be safer. Victims will feel better. He should simply honor his pledges to be ‘open.’ List the names and make it easier for adults to protect their kids from dangerous predators.” Bishop McManus, in the statement, said that the diocesan Review Board and the Presbyterian Council advised that a list should not be published. The Review Board is made up of about 20 priests and lay individuals. The council, meanwhile, is composed of the priests who are in charge of the 13 diocesan deaneries. Bishop McManus did not rule out identifying accused priests, but added that the two advisory panels noted that the publication of a list “would be outside the normal practice of any nonprofit, educational or governmental organization charged with the care of children and young people.” “Over the past decade, it has been the policy of the Diocese of Worcester to publicly announce to parishioners and the media when a priest has been removed from active ministry due to an allegation of sexual misconduct involving a minor,” wrote the bishop. “This policy, in conjunction with other public lists which have been posted by various victims’ advocacy groups, has made it possible via the Internet to search for names of priests who have been accused over the course of many decades.” He noted that victims may seek assistance from the diocesan Office for Healing and Prevention. “This personal approach is available to anyone who is seeking to confirm whether someone who may have harmed them is not still actively serving in the ministry,” said the bishop, who advised local priests of the policy in a letter on Aug. 26. Raymond L. Delisle, a diocesan spokesman, said the local church’s policy has been “consistent.” “The diocese deals with the issue on a case-by-case basis,” he said. Mr. Delisle said the diocese has been open about priests who have been involved in illicit activities and noted that former Bishop Daniel P. O’Reilly went so far as to publish, in a 2003 diocesan report, a list of priests accused of sexual misconduct since the diocese’s establishment in the early 1950s. Ms. Doyle said she was “appalled” that Bishop McManus would advise local Catholics to check non-diocesan websites for news of accused priests. “It really is disconcerting,” she said, noting that her organization and the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests plan to formally ask Bishop McManus and church leaders in Fall River, the fourth diocese in Massachusetts, to release lists. “Asking people to look at other websites isn’t outreach. It’s not compassionate of the victims or protective of children.” Last month, Cardinal O’Malley sent out a letter to Roman Catholics in the archdiocese, saying that the church needs “to be open about clergy accused of crimes against children in order to help foster the process of healing and the restoration of trust.” The list does not include 22 priests against whom allegations could not be substantiated and 62 dead clerics for whom allegations were not fully investigated and whose names had never been made public. Also omitted from the list were the names of about 10 priests or former priests who had already been dismissed or laicized before they were accused and whose names were not made public, and priests or former priests not in active ministry for whom preliminary probes have not been completed. The cardinal would also not release the names of religious order priests or clerics from other dioceses who had been accused while ministering in the archdiocese because other church authorities are charged with investigating the allegations. Ms. Doyle said the archdiocesan list did not contain any newly identified sexual predators but it did acknowledge that there were 250 under suspicion. “There are people out there who still don’t believe that priests could be involved in this kind of activity,” she said. “They might now realize it because this list was authorized by the cardinal.” Ms. Doyle said 10.75 percent of archdiocesan priests have been accused since the 1950s. Diocesan officials in Worcester yesterday could not provide the number of accused priest that they have publicly identified. BishopAccountability.org lists 39 who have been accused.
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