MARYLAND
The Baltimore Sun
Alison Knezevich
The Baltimore Sun
Posting list of accused priests is response to request by survivors, Baltimore archdiocese says.
The Archdiocese of Baltimore has posted a list of dozens of priests and religious brothers accused of sexual abuse in a move church officials say came from listening to feedback from abuse survivors.
All of the names had previously been disclosed by the church, in most cases years ago. But activists say having them in one place can help encourage victims to come forward — and help expose the scope of abuse.
“We’ve wanted it a long time,” said David Lorenz, Maryland director of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests. “We’ve asked every diocese around the country to do it.”
The list, posted on the archdiocese website, includes the names of 71 clergymen about whom church officials have received what they call “credible” accusations during the priest’s lifetime.
Archdiocese spokesman Sean Caine said the list was posted in January, but church officials didn’t announce it because the list included no new information.
The decision to post the names was “a response to what we’ve heard from survivors,” Caine said. “It’s something we’ve been working on for a while.” …
Only a fraction of Catholic dioceses have published the names of accused priests. Some lists have been required as part of a lawsuit, said Terry McKiernan, president of BishopAccountability.org a Massachusetts-based watchdog group that tracks data on clergy sexual abuse.
“I personally feel that it’s valuable that they are putting these names out there and taking some ownership,” McKiernan said. “In all fairness, Baltimore is to be commended for just doing it, not doing it because it they have to.”
Still, McKiernan said the way the list is formatted makes it difficult for website users to view all the details released.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.