Louisiana Catholic Church should name pedophile clergymen, victims' advocates say
Updated Posted
Advocates for victims of the Catholic Church's pervasive clergy sex abuse scandal are calling upon Louisiana bishops to release the names of pedophile priests and clergy members whose actions have thrown one of the world's oldest religious institutions into crisis.
The calls come as New Orleans Archbishop Gregory Aymond on Thursday (Sept. 20) said he and the state's six other bishops are mulling whether to release the names of clergy members against whom credible accusations of abuse have been made. He said the issue was a topic of discussion at a meeting of the bishops last week.
"I brought it up at our meeting and said 'I think we have to look at this,'" Aymond said. "We don't have a decision, but we are looking into it. There are a few steps we want to look at before making the decision."
David G. Clohessy, who for decades served as director of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests and remains involved with the national group, said Aymond and other Louisiana bishops should do what several other dioceses around the country have done and identify clergy members who were deemed to be involved in abuse. The names should be permanently published on church websites and periodically included in parish bulletins, Clohessy said.
"It's a simple, common sense way to protect the vulnerable, heal the wounded and honor bishops' repeated but often hollow pledges of 'openness' about clergy sex crimes and cover ups," Clohessy said. "Kids are safer, and the church is healthier when every single proven, admitted and credibly accused child molesting cleric is exposed. After ignoring and concealing knowledge and suspicions about this horror for decades, releasing these names is a belated but important step forward."
The call to release the names follows explosive reports chronicling the Catholic Church's decades-long sex abuse and cover-up scandal. A blistering grand jury report last month revealed decades of child sex abuse by priests in Pennsylvania, naming about 300 priests who abused at least 1,000 victims. The report triggered other revelations of clergy abuse, drawing widespread media attention and reigniting a crisis for the Catholic Church that first surfaced in Louisiana in the 1980s.
So far, more than 30 of the nearly 200 dioceses in the U.S. have released lists of priests accused of abusing children in past decades, according to BishopAccountability.org. Meanwhile, nine states have launched widespread probes of abuse and possible cover up.
Aymond, in his interview Thursday, said great strides have been made to ensure a safe Catholic environment since preventative measures were put in place by the U.S. Conference of Bishops in 2002. He said the vast majority of the abuse cases making news occurred decades ago, but the church must learn and repent from its sins. Bishops, he said, have a lot of work to do.
"We have to worry about the past" and help those who have been victimized and their families, who have also suffered, Aymond said. "I've heard stories that have brought me to tears."
The archbishop said while releasing the names of clergy members accused of abuse helps the transparency effort the church seeks, doing so also poses problems, especially in cases where the accused is deceased. "What's credible, what's not credible?" he said. "Do you destroy someone's family with a dead priest. It's messy."
Bishop Douglas Deshotel of the Catholic Diocese of Lafayette also said this week he is considering releasing the names of priests alleged to have been involved in abuse, the Lafayette Daily Advertiser reported.
Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests board member Michael Norris told the Lafayette newspaper that he's doubtful the southwest Louisiana diocese will release the names.
The worldwide clergy abuse scandal originated in the Diocese of Lafayette in 1985, when the Rev. Gilbert Gauthe was convicted of sexually abusing as many as 39 young children between 1972 and 1983. That case opened the door to similar cases in the Catholic Church, in which hundreds of priests and bishops were found to be involved in the abuse or participated in a cover up.
"With past experiences with the Catholic Church, there is a lack of trust that all names will be released as requested," Norris told The Advertiser.
Roger Stetter, a New Orleans plaintiff's attorney who has worked on dozens of clergy abuse cases, also called for the release of pedophile clergy members.
"All of these (clergy abuse) records in the archdiocese should be on the website," Stetter said. "If the archbishop really wants to purify the church...and he really believes they have sinned, this should happen and we should have complete transparency."
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