Background Regarding Resolutions to Some of the Cases of Priests on Administrative Leave

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia Via Bishopaccountability.org
May 4, 2012

http://bishopaccountability.org/news5/2012_05_04_Philadelphia_Resolution_Background.pdf

[with pdf]

Below is background information regarding those cases announced today of priests placed on

administrative leave after the 2011 grand jury report. Notification had been made at their most

recent parish assignment at that time. Announcements of the final resolution of their cases will be made at those parishes this weekend.

Prior to reaching a final resolution, each case was submitted to the appropriate local district

attorney's office as the process is designed to ensure that the district attorney has an opportunity for review before an Archdiocesan investigation proceeds. After receiving clearance that investigation was conducted by the Multi-Disciplinary Team (MDT) led by veteran child abuse prosecutor Gina Maisto Smith. The results of the investigations were provided to the Archdiocesan Review Board (ARB), which provided a recommendation to the Archbishop, who made the final decision.

The remaining cases cannot be announced immediately for a variety of reasons. The

Archdiocese referred all of its cases to the local district attorney. A handful of cases have not yet been cleared so the internal Archdiocesan investigation led by the MDT has not begun. A few cases were just recently released by law enforcement and are currently under investigation by the MDT. In other cases, the Archdiocese has received clearance, the internal investigation is complete, and the matter is awaiting examination by the Archdiocesan Review Board or a final decision by Archbishop Chaput.