PHOENIX (AZ)
New Times
July 3, 2019
By Michael Clancy
Did the Diocese of Phoenix provide a home to 109 clergymen accused of sexual abuse?
A new report compiled by one of the nation’s leading law firms on clergy sexual abuse identified that many, saying they lived, worked, retired or visited in the territory of the diocese.
Many of the accused have been convicted of their crimes. Others were the subjects of civil lawsuits, and quite a few died before the accusations were revealed. Some were “credibly accused,” as the church says, in other dioceses and came to the Phoenix diocese later, sometimes no longer allowed to work as priests.
According to the diocese, none are working here now.
The latest compilation of perpetrators comes from Jeff Anderson and Associates, which has been involved in clergy abuse cases since the early 2000s.
About 50 priests, other clergy, and church staffers were identified 16 years ago, when Bishop Thomas O’Brien was still in office. Some of the identities were released by the diocese, others through the court system, and direct contact between abuse victims and the media.
On its website, the diocese now lists only 43, but it has not been updated to reflect religious communities, such as Jesuits and the like, that have ministries in the diocese.
It’s confusing.
The additional numbers in the Anderson report come from the inclusion of names released by religious orders that have ministries in the Phoenix area, and by adding in priests who were ordained in other dioceses, then came to Phoenix to vacation, work, or retire. The final group would be listed as accused abusers in their home dioceses.
Several on the Anderson list worked for other dioceses in the area now covered by the Phoenix diocese, which was carved out of the dioceses of Gallup, New Mexico, and Tucson in 1969. The diocese covers Maricopa, Yavapai, Mohave, and Coconino counties, as well as the Gila Indian Reservation. Navajo and Apache counties remain part of the Gallup Diocese, as well as the entire Navajo Reservation. The remainder of the state is part of the Diocese of Tucson.
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