BishopAccountability.org
	Victims Want Diocese to Release More Details on Abusive Priests The Associated Press, carried in Tyler Morning Telegraph [Fort Worth TX] June 26, 2005 FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) - The Fort Worth Roman Catholic Diocese's decision to release the names of eight priests accused of sexually abusing children has raised more questions than it answered, victims and their advocates say. The victims want the church to release details such as how many times each priest was accused and whether any of the allegations have been substantiated. But others, including priests, worry that releasing the accused men's personnel files would only cause more pain. Diocese officials are fighting in court to keep details about the allegations secret. In an attempt to gain access to the accused priests' files, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram and The Dallas Morning News have intervened in a clergy abuse lawsuit the diocese settled this year for $4.15 million. One priest's files were made public as part of the lawsuit, but a judge ordered the files of the other seven sealed. A hearing on whether the files must be released is scheduled for Wednesday. Victims' advocates say conflicting reports about one priest, the Rev. Joseph Tu Ngoc Nguyen, illustrate the problem with a partial release of information. Tu, the only one of the eight priests still in active ministry, is an associate pastor at Holy Rosary Catholic Church in Houston. Tu was a priest at St. Matthew Catholic Church in Arlington from 1980 to 1994. In 1993, he was accused of sexually abusing two minor girls in 1980 in Fort Worth. When Tu's name was released by the Fort Worth Diocese, the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston and his Dominican order released statements saying he had been cleared of abusing minors. The statements did not mention allegations made by Janet Buchanan, a former Benedictine nun who has accused Tu of sexually abusing her when she was in her early 20s. Buchanan went public with her accusations after reading the statements saying Tu had been cleared. "I can only hope that the individuals who made them were simply misinformed," Buchanan said. "They're more than misleading. They're completely inaccurate." Buchanan told the Star-Telegram that Tu touched her inappropriately when she sought him out for spiritual advice. She said she spoke with Fort Worth Bishop Joseph Delaney about her allegations in 1993. She gave the newspaper a copy of a 1994 letter from Delaney saying Tu "may have been prone to act inappropriately" and that he would be reassigned to a Houston Dominican community "with the support of several other of his brothers." A woman who answered the phone at Tu's church referred questions to Regina Wedig, a spokeswoman for the Dominican order. Wedig said the order did not report the 1980 abuse allegations to police. Judy Locke, victim assistance coordinator for the diocese, told the Star-Telegram in an e-mail that the diocese's "first concern is to listen to the victims." "Anything they have to say will be listened to and responded to in the context of our regular review process," Locke said. David Clohessy, the national director for Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, said victims and all Catholics need to know the extent of abuse and the diocese's responses. "If ... the bishop has more allegations and information he doesn't share with them, he continues to be complicit in hiding the truth and minimizing the crime," he said.