WASHINGTON (DC)
Catholic News Service
February 4, 2019
The 15 Catholic dioceses of Texas releasing the names of 278 clergy credibly accused of sexual abuse dating back to 1950 acknowledges that the stories of victims are being heard, said Cardinal Daniel N. DiNardo of Galveston-Houston.
“That’s one thing they (victims) want. They want their stories heard. That’s really important,” Cardinal DiNardo told Houston’s KPRC-TV in an interview that was broadcast in several segments Jan. 31 as the list was released.
“Some of the victims have thought that no one paid attention to them. I think that this archdiocese has paid attention to them,” said Cardinal DiNardo, who also is president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. “We can certainly do more. But that’s what they (victims) want to hear.”
The plan to coordinate the release of the names of 278 priests emerged in a Sept. 30 meeting among the Texas bishops. The Texas Catholic Conference announced in October that jointly releasing the names, was part of “ongoing work to protect children from sexual abuse” and “promote healing and a restoration of trust” in the Catholic Church.
“We publish it for the Gospel. We publish it because of the young people who were harmed. The church is indeed wounded badly by this,” Cardinal DiNardo added.
And while the list is comprehensive, he said there may be some clergy who were not included in the disclosure.
“I want to indicate though that we’re very serious about this. We have worked on this very long and hard with a lot of laity and we think we’ve done OK. Can we expect there may be someone who might come by (who is not on the list)? Sure, that might happen. But we present our list as complete as we can at this time,” he explained.
The disclosure also serves to recognize the anger and hurt that Catholics in the pews as well as priests across the state feel in the wake of the abuse crisis, he added.
The cardinal also told the television station that the release of the names signifies that the church wants to become more transparent about its workings and that it serves as a step to rebuild trust in the church.
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