Bishop Ronald Gainer of the Diocese of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, released the names of 71 Priests and other Catholic officials accused of the sexual abuse of a minor(s).
The Diocese of Allentown, Pennsylvania has announced it plans to follow Harrisburg’s example in the very near future.
Bishop Gainer has stated that the list of names represents only accusations. By announcing them, the Diocese of Harrisburg is not claiming anyone guilty of the allegations.
The list includes 37 Priests, three Deacons, six seminarians, nine Clergy of other dioceses and 16 from other Catholic Religious Orders.
The public disclosure excludes cases the Diocese found unsubstantiated and does not provide an estimated number of abuse victims.
Gainer made the announcement, accompanied by apologies to victims.
The apologies, Gainer said, are for the pain victims suffered and for the lax way church officials, including himself, treated their claims documented in Diocesan files since 1947.
“I apologize to the survivors of child sex abuse, to the Catholic faithful and to the general public for the abuses that took place and for those Church officials who failed to act,” Bishop Gainer said.
Gainer’s announcement came amid a heated court and public relations battle over a massive statewide grand jury report examining decades of child sex abuse claims and cover-ups in six Catholic Dioceses: Allentown, Harrisburg, Scranton, Erie, Greensburg and Pittsburgh. The report, written after a two-year investigation by the state attorney general’s office, is hung up in legal wranglings before the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. A redacted version of the report is expected to be released August 14th.
Bishop Gainer likewise waived all confidentiality agreements his diocese imposed on victims in the past as part of legal settlement agreements, allowing them to discuss their experiences if they want.
Bishop Gainer also said the names of accused Priests and Bishops who protected them will be removed from buildings and other locations where they have been honored.
Bishop Gainer plans to issue his own letter to parishioners at weekend Masses. It will be inserted into church bulletins.
“While we seek forgiveness in the name of our diocese, we continue in our sincere request that survivors come forward so that their situations can be addressed,” Gainer said Wednesday. “We take seriously both my and the diocese’s obligation to prevent such abuse from occurring, to foster healing, and to be transparent.”
“The Diocese of Allentown plans to post a list of credibly accused Priests on its website on the day the grand jury report is released,” Diocesan spokesman Matt Kerr said.
Allentown’s list will be posted regardless of whether or not the court publishes a redacted or full version of the grand jury report. The list does not say when or where any of the the alleged abuses occurred — or when the reports were made to church or government authorities.
In April of this year, Bishop Lawrence Persico, of the Erie Diocese, became the first head of the six Dioceses under investigation to release names of Clergy accused of sexual misconduct against minors.
What impact these revelations will have upon the Catholic faithful in Pennsylvania remains to be seen, but the wound inflicted against the credibility and moral authority of the Bishops continues to fester.
The Holy Father must speak to this issue publicly, decry its shamefulness and corruption, and speak words of healing and compassion to Catholic communities throughout the United States which have been stung so brutally by these horrid tales of abuse and obstruction of justice.
The silence, thus far from the Vatican, is deafening!
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