MANILA (PHILIPPINES)
Daily Mirror [London, England]
January 29, 2025
By Jack Hobbs
A U.S. watchdog website has reportedly launched a database on all the Philippines-based catholic priests who have been accused of sexual abuse of minors. The Associated Press reported that the site was launched on Wednesday and contains more than 80 Roman Catholic priests.
The site alleged that the silence from the Filipino bishops regarding the crimes was tantamount to a coverup. The Philippines is reported to be the third-largest Roman Catholic nation in the world and public discussion about the sexual abuse allegations has generally been silent.
It was reported that none of the 82 accused priests — which includes seven bishops — have ever been convicted by a court of law. The database, which is called BishopAccountablity.org, provides the searcher with everything from the face of the accused to past churches.
The site also features several accounts of survivors and a list of U.S.-based priests who were accused of the heinous crime. Anne Doyle, the director of the nonprofit, stated that the bishop’s long silence on the matter allegedly encouraged sexual assaults by clergymen and begged authorities to get involved.
“Philippine bishops feel entitled to their silence. They feel entitled to withhold information about sexual violence toward minors. They feel entitled to defend accused priests,” Doyle said during a news conference. “What we hope to achieve is raise awareness.”
Doyle added, “Secrecy only benefits the perpetrators. Secrecy equals complicity.” Speaking out after the website was launched, Cardinal Pablo Virgilio David stated that the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines had set up an officer to help safeguard minors and other vulnerable people.
The Mirror U.S. investigated the database and discovered that some of the priests had been cleared of any charges and allowed to return to work at the church. According to the group, the 82 clerics may just be “the tip of the iceberg.” Gemma Hickey, a victim of clergy sexual abuse, also spoke out in favor of the site.
“It’s survivors that serve a life sentence. Many of the priests who have abused us get to carry on with their lives,” Hickey stated. “They don’t face jail time. Some of them retire, move on with their lives, move on even to other careers and escape under the radar.”
“But survivors are trapped in a prison of memory,” Hickey added. The launch of the site comes after the Archdiocese of Los Angeles has agreed to pay a record-breaking $880 million to settle over 1,300 child sex abuse claims involving more than 300 priests.
The settlement was announced in mid-October and marks the largest of its kind in the history of the Catholic Church and covers decades of abuse. Morgan A. Stewart, an attorney for the victims, stated: “The massive amount of this settlement reflects the amount of grievous harm done to vulnerable children and the decades of neglect, complicity and cover-up by the Archdiocese which allowed known serial predators to inflict this harm.”
Stewart added, “I encourage other religious institutions within the Catholic Church to meet their responsibilities and take accountability.” The Archdiocese had previously paid $740 million to victims, bringing the total payout to over $1.5 billion.