Statement of Edward Cardinal Egan, Archbishop-Emeritus

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York
February 8, 2012

http://www.archny.org/news-events/news-press-releases/index.cfm?i=23411

STATEMENT OF EDWARD CARDINAL EGAN, ARCHBISHOP-EMERITUS

"There needs to be a response to recently published statements about the abuse of minors by priests during my years as shepherd of two splendid communities of faith. In neither was there ever even one known case of the sexual abuse of a minor by a priest throughout my tenure. Nor was the payment to a victim in exchange for silence ever even proposed, just as there has never been any failure on my part to speak the whole and unvarnished truth in depositions of any kind whatever. For all of this I daily thank the Lord, just as I thank Him too for the virtuous and dedicated priests with whom I have had the privilege of working in the Diocese of Bridgeport and the Archdiocese of New York. The suffering and damage that the sexual abuse of minors causes to innocent children and their loved ones are horrendous beyond all expression. For a bishop and his priests there is nothing more important than seeing to it that no such incredibly painful and destructive offense against the law of God and man ever occurs in any parish, institution, or agency of the Church."