BishopAccountability.org

Judge to Winona Diocese: Release Priests' Names

The Jerome Christenson and the Associated Press
December 3, 2013

http://www.winonadailynews.com/news/local/article_352bc33c-5be1-11e3-9e09-001a4bcf887a.html



The Diocese of Winona must disclose this month the names of 13 priests credibly accused of sexually abusing minors, a state judge ruled Monday.

The Ramsey County judge also ruled Monday that the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis must disclose its own list of

33 priests.

If the dioceses do not release any names on the lists, they must file detailed explanations for each arguing why they should be kept private. The dioceses also have until Jan. 6 to reveal names of priests accused of recent sexual abuse of minors.

Mike Finnegan, an attorney with Jeff Anderson & Associates, representing the plaintiff in the case, called the decision “historic” and an important step to assure child safety. The plaintiff maintained that making the identities of the accused clergy public was necessary to protect other children from becoming victims.

Joel Hennessy, communications director for the Diocese of Winona, said Mon-day that Bishop John Quinn was traveling from a family Thanksgiving holiday in Detroit and an official statement would be made after he meets with diocesan staff Tuesday.

Attorneys for victims of clergy sexual abuse sought for years to make the lists public. Attorney Jeff Anderson said there is a “fierce urgency” in knowing who abusers are, where they worked and where they live.

Church leaders have balked at releasing the lists, saying they could harm reputations of innocent priests. They argued the term “credibly accused” — coined by a 2004 nationwide study to determine the scope of clergy sex abuse that led to the lists — has a low threshold and meant that any report of abuse that was “not implausible” was included.

Thomas Braun, attorney for the Winona diocese, objected to disclosing the 13 names, citing the low threshold used in compiling the list.

Before the judge issued his order, an attorney for the archdiocese said Archbishop John Nienstedt was prepared to name 30 priests accused of sexually abusing minors. The names include 29 priests on the 2004 list, plus one against whom a substantiated claim was leveled later.

“The archbishop has determined he wants the healing to begin,” archdiocese attorney Tom Wieser said.

The two dioceses must release the priests’ names, birth year and age, year of ordination, whether they’re alive or dead and the year of death, the parishes they served, their current status, and the city and state where they live.

Across the country, roughly two dozen archdioceses and dioceses have already made such lists public. Other Minnesota dioceses have similar lists of accused priests — 26 in the Diocese of St. Cloud, 17 in the Diocese of Duluth, 12 in the Diocese of New Ulm, and five in the Diocese of Crookston — a total of 106 accused in the state. Finnegan said his firm will be sending copies of the the judge’s order to “every other bishop in the state” urging them to comply as well.

The suit, filed in June, was the first to be brought under the Minnesota Child Victims Act passed by the Legislature and signed into law in May. The plaintiff alleges that in 1976 and 1977 he was sexually abused by Thomas Adamson, then a priest assigned to St. Thomas Aquinas parish in St. Paul Park. Adamson had been transferred from the Diocese of Winona to the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis in 1974, at which time church officials “knew or should have known that Adamson had sexually abused and victimized over 20 children since 1964,” according to the lawsuit.






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