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	Guest Column: Diocese Should Release Names of Priests By Peter Isely Green Bay Press-Gazette January 13, 2008 http://www.greenbaypressgazette.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080113/GPG07/801130738/1273/GPGbusiness Last week, in conjunction with a lawsuit filed by two victims of child sexual assault by convicted pedophile priest John Patrick Feeney, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) petitioned the Catholic Diocese of Green Bay, through its current Vatican-appointed administrator, Archbishop Timothy Dolan of Milwaukee, to release the names, settlement locations, and case dispositions of 51 clergy whom church officials determined sexually abused children. If you go to the Web site of the Wisconsin Department of Regulation and Licensing, you can see how every other profession working with children — social workers, teachers, pediatricians — deals with complaints of misconduct. After a confidential professional investigation, if the charges are found to be true, disciplinary action is taken, such as suspending or revoking a license. Then, the findings are made public. Concerned some physician or therapist may have sexually assaulted a child or a patient? Go the Web site and find out. Where's the Web site for clergy? Archbishop Dolan, in 2004, not only released a number but the names of sex offender priests from the Milwaukee Archdiocese. He made it perfectly clear that every cleric on that list, alive or deceased, sexually abused a child. How did he know? Because church authorities gathered evidence and collaborating witnesses; very often there was a direct admission of guilt by the perpetrator to the bishop. You will find all of this in Feeney's secret file only available now because of Wednesday's lawsuit. Green Bay Catholics can read for themselves how their charitable contributions were used, for more than 30 years, to keep Feeney both in his job as a priest and molesting children. These documents mirror similar ones reviewed by the Wisconsin Supreme Court in a landmark ruling this August. All seven justices — including Catholic justice David Prosser who handled the Feeney case as Outagamie County DA — concluded there was sufficient evidence that state bishops committed intentional fraud and concealment by assigning known sex offenders to parishes and schools. A bishop is hardly going to allow some priest to be slandered with a heinous accusation as child rape if it's not true. That is why the Green Bay diocese repeatedly investigated, confirmed and made sure that Feeney was a child molester. Then, as the documents released last week clearly show, they took the facts and covered them up. They let Feeney loose to work in 20 different parishes in the span of 20 years. Green Bay Catholics have a right to know: "Was as a sex offender priest ... transferred by my bishop into my parish, school or neighborhood? Who is supervising them? Do they have access to children? How much of the church's money is being spent on their living and legal expenses?" In 2004 Gov. Jim Doyle urged the state's bishops to be responsible citizens and publish these names. Under pressure, Archbishop Dolan did so. He is still delaying the release of the names of religious order clergy, but a partial release of information is better than none. Why is such action good enough for the Milwaukee but not the Green Bay diocese? I seriously doubt the diocese of Green Bay is suggesting that Archbishop Timothy Dolan is outing innocent priests in Milwaukee. These 51 potentially dangerous, unpunished and untreated clergy could be spending time with Catholic children right now, simply telling families that they have retired early or are taking a leave of absence. Who would know? The diocese of Green Bay, that's who.
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