Santa Fe Archdiocese Finally Names Priests Accused of Molestation

By Andrew Oxford
New Mexican
September 12, 2017

http://www.santafenewmexican.com/santa-fe-archdiocese-finally-names-priests-accused-of-molestation/article_74bdc7cc-9808-11e7-9912-2bf37b8e59da.html

Diana Abeyta, pictured last week in front the Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi, is among the abuse victims who say greater transparency by the Archidiocese of Santa Fe is long overdue. Luis Sanchez Saturno/ The New Mexican

In a move that shattered its long-held policy of secrecy, the Santa Fe Archdiocese on Tuesday released a list of 74 Catholic priests, deacons and brothers who it says were credibly accused of sexual misconduct over the last several decades.

Archbishop John C. Wester said he decided to make the names public at last in the hope that their disclosure would help survivors of sexual abuse.

“It is my deepest hope that our publication of this list will serve as an important step in healing for survivors, their families, and our Church and communities. But we will not stop here,” Wester said in a statement.

More than two dozen dioceses around the country, including the Diocese of Gallup, have released similar lists. But the Archdiocese of Santa Fe, which was an epicenter of the church’s sex abuse scandal, had never taken such a step until Tuesday.

The list includes 72 priests and two deacons. Thirty-eight of the men listed are deceased.

“It’s about time,” said Diana Abeyta, an Albuquerque woman who says she was in the second grade when she was sexually assaulted by a priest in her parish.

Advocates for survivors of sexual abuse by priests applauded the move but said the church has more to do in accounting for its handling of a scandal that has rocked the core of an institution at the center of New Mexico life.

For example, Abeyta says the archdiocese should also release the records of priests accused of sexual abuse, as the Catholic Church has in Chicago and Los Angeles.