 |
The
Assignment Record Project |
Assignment
Records: Why They Are Important
An assignment record lists all the diocesan and parish appointments
of a priest, including telltale periods of sick leave. A detailed assignment
record, like this assignment
record of John Geoghan created by the Boston Globe, identifies populations
that have been placed at risk, and is also cross-referenced with a list
of accusations, so that the transfer policies of the priest's bishops
can be evaluated. By identifying a priests' seminary class and the colleagues
with whom he has worked, an assigment record can also begin to identify
the circle of colleagues who kept the priest's activities secret and who
might even have been involved in the abuse themselves.
Assignment records are all around us:
* Newspaper
accounts of the crisis
* Diocesan
records
* Investigative
files
* Obituaries
and other old newspaper reports
But these records are dispersed and difficult to find, and complete assignment
records for most accused priests are not publicly available. We urge the
U.S. bishops to publish detailed assignment records with treatment episodes
and accusation dates for every abuser. In the meantime, we are undertaking
this work of research and collection ourselves. See our initial
collection of assignment records below.
Volunteering
for the Assignment Record Project
Please send
us any assignment records that know about or come across:
* In your daily newspaper reading
* In your personal experience, if you are a survivor of abuse
* In the research that you've done, if you are a lawyer or a reporter
working in this area
If you would like to join the Service Record Project as a volunteer --
for a few hours, or a few hours per week, or anything in between -- please
read our guide
to service record research, and email
us to let us know you're interested. This is work that you can do at a
local Catholic college library or at most central city libraries, and
you can email, snail mail, or even phone us the results.
List
of Assignment Records
The staff at BishopAccountability.org has begun to assemble a library
of assignment records for accused priests and others who figure in the
crisis. Some we have developed ourselves from the Official
Catholic Directory, diocesan documents, and investigative reports.
Others were created by lawyers and investigative reporters. Others were
created by the dioceses themselves and relinquished under subpoena, or
were prepared by the dioceses in response to investigation by law enforcement.