Burns said he owed transparency "to the faithful of the Diocese of Dallas."

"And more importantly I owe it to those who've been abused and their families," he said. 

The investigation

The decision for all 15 dioceses in Texas to release the files was made Sept. 30 during a meeting of the Texas Catholic Conference of Bishops. 

The investigation to come up with the names represents a major undertaking. Statewide, the church serves 8.5 million Catholics in 1,320 parishes. The Dallas Diocese alone counts 1.3 million Catholics in 74 parishes.

"As you can imagine, going back to 1950 and doing this statewide, it is an arduous task. It's going to take some time," Burns said.

The Dallas Diocese hired a team of six outside investigators made up of former FBI agents, former Texas state troopers and other law enforcement experts to examine its priests' files. The group has done similar work for other Catholic dioceses around the country and is in "high demand right now," Burns said.

Burns said the investigation began in February with the files of seminarians and deacon candidates along with active priests in the diocese.

Asked to explain the definition of "credibly accused," Burns said the term means "that we would believe it is true that an abuse has taken place." Burns said even without a criminal conviction, an investigation can determine if the accuser is telling the truth.

The criteria for what constitutes a credible accusation will be the same across the state, Burns said. 

"When we bring forth our list, we will also bring forth that criteria," he said.

Burns declined to estimate how many priests could be on the list. But he said he could "assure you that there are no priests in any parish in this diocese who have been credibly accused of sexual abuse of a minor."

Burns predicted that some names would be familiar to Dallas-area Catholics. 

"This diocese has gone through some very difficult days and you're going to see some of those names repeated," Burns said. Other names, he said, "will be a surprise to people."

The Diocese of Fort Worth has been making public the names of credibly-accused clergy since 2005, according to a letter released by the office of Bishop Michael F. Olson. In 2007, the Fort Worth Diocese became the first in Texas to publish on it website the names of the credibly-accused priests, a list that is updated as needed.

The list currently contains the names of 15 priests, a deacon and a religious brother. The list is available on the diocese's Safe Environment page.

Allegations at St. Cecelia

The investigation of Dallas-area priests comes about two months after Edmundo Paredes, the former pastor at St. Cecelia in Oak Cliff, was accused of abusing three boys more than a decade ago.

Burns publicly announced the allegations against Paredes in an address at Masses on Aug. 18 and 19 at St. Cecilia. Paredes, who was also accused of theft of church funds, was pastor of the parish from 1990 to 2017. 

The diocese has not heard from Paredes since March, and private investigators haven't been able to find him. Burns said Wednesday that he believes Paredes returned to the Philippines, his native country.

The church now takes multiple steps when an allegation is made against a priest or other member of the ministry, Burns said: Law enforcement is notified, other church leaders offer assistance to the victim, and the allegations are reviewed by the Diocesan Review Board, made up of nonclergy Catholics including doctors, clinical psychologists, lawyers, parents and others. 

After examining the allegations, the board offers an opinion on their credibility. 

Town hall meetings

In prepared remarks, Burns blamed "a small but significant number of clerics who preyed on children and young people" and church leaders who didn't stop them.

"The failure of too many of my brother bishops to protect the children by covering up the crimes of the perpetrators and rebuffing victims who came forward has scandalized the Catholic faithful and the public at large," he said. 

"As your shepherd, I apologize," he said.

Burns noted that the sex-abuse crisis had "driven many of the faithful out of the church entirely."

Brian and Aubrey Flaherty were among those who came to hear the bishop's response to the sex-abuse scandal. The couple attend St. Monica Catholic Church in North Dallas. "There obviously needs to be a cleanup," said Brian Flaherty. "That needs to happen."