WASHINGTON (DC)
Think Progress
December 18, 2018
By Joshua Eaton
At least four Catholic priests the church believes are guilty of child sex abuse are living at a home for retired clergy in Baltimore, Maryland, ThinkProgress has learned.
The Maryland Province Jesuits, a Catholic religious order, declined to say where the men now live after it published their names Monday in a list of five current priests with “credible or established” accusations of child sex abuse. It said only that they are “in a restricted environment on a safety plan.”
But a database of public records shows that four of the five priests live at the Colombiere Jesuit Community, a home for retired priests in Baltimore’s North Roland Park neighborhood. Information compiled by a victims group also places the fifth priest at Colombiere.
A number of schools are within about a mile radius of Colombiere: Boys’ Latin School of Maryland, Friends School of Baltimore, The Bryn Mawr School, Gilman School, West Towson Elementary, Roland Park, and Redeemer Parish Day School.
“Jesuit officials at Colombiere owe the community and the public an explanation of their safety protocols and practices,” Zach Hiner, executive director of the victim rights group SNAP, told ThinkProgress by email. “They should also confirm that the accused priests are not being permitted to perform any priestly functions that may bring them closer to children or vulnerable adults. To do any less is to do a disservice to the community.”
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