Will Harrisburg Diocese Release a List of Accused Child Molester Priests?
By Christine Vendel
Activists and survivors have spent years calling for Catholic Church dioceses to release the names of priests accused of sexually abusing children. They argued the move would increase transparency, help victims heal and prevent abusers from living anonymously in neighborhoods amid unsuspecting families. Most dioceses across the country have resisted releasing public lists, but some have obliged. Last month, the Buffalo Diocese in New York released a list of 42 names. Two days later, the Erie Diocese in Pennsylvania pledged to follow suit with its own list that could be released any day now. The announcement came amid news that a two-year grand jury probe is coming to a close after examining how Erie and five other Pennsylvania dioceses handled accusations against priests. Erie's announcement sent shockwaves through dioceses across Pennsylvania that are now grappling with whether they, too, should create a public list and, if so, who should make the cut? Such lists can cover a wide range of possibilities including any priest ever accused by anyone to including only priests who have been criminally prosecuted. In Buffalo, they released names of priests who retired, died or left the ministry after allegations surfaced. It's unclear what Erie's parameters will be. Carolyn M. Simpson, deputy director of communications for Pennsylvania's Office of Attorney General, provided this statement late Thursday afternoon about the overall investigation: "Protecting the secrecy of Statewide Investigating Grand Juries is paramount. Only those individuals directly involved with the Grand Jury are aware of its inner workings, and any speculation on current or former investigations from people outside of that small population should be dismissed. "Our Office deeply respects all victims of sexual abuse and works every day to protect our children and put predators behind bars. Anyone with information related to sexual abuse by members of clergy is encouraged to call our hotline: 888-538-8541." Here's what the five other Pennsylvania dioceses under grand jury investigation said Thursday when asked about their plans to publish lists: Harrisburg Officials with the Harrisburg Diocese told PennLive that they had fully intended to release a list of accused priests in September 2016, when word first leaked out that a grand jury was investigating six Pennsylvania dioceses, but they were waved off by the attorney general's office. "The Office of Attorney General instructed us not to at that time, so as not to interfere in their ongoing investigation," Joseph Aponick, the Harrisburg Diocese spokesman said in a statement. Based on the pledge from Erie, however, the Harrisburg diocese will now "revisit" the issue with the attorney general's office, Aponick said. Aponick declined to say how many priests were on the list that they were prepared to divulge in 2016 or any further information on the subject. Officials with the attorney general's office declined to comment specifically about Harrisburg's statement. Greensburg A Greensburg spokesman gave a similar statement to Harrisburg's when PennLive inquired about the diocese's stance on making priests' names public. "In September of 2016, the Office of Attorney General advised the Diocese of Greensburg to withhold releasing names of any accused clergy or other diocesan personnel so as not to interfere with the Attorney General's ongoing investigation," the statement said. "In light of the Diocese of Erie's decision to publish names of accused priests, we will wait for further direction from the Attorney General." Scranton The diocese in Scranton, meanwhile, indicated it didn't plan to publish a list but instead would continue with its policy of reporting to "parishioners as well as civil authorities all instances where clerics were removed from or left ministry due to allegations of child sexual abuse," according to a statement. "Notification is part of the Diocese's strict zero tolerance policy in relation to allegations of child sexual abuse," the statement continued. "That policy - grounded in vigilance, transparency, and healing - has evolved and been improved for more than twenty-five years." Allentown A spokesman from Allentown also indicated they had no plans to publish a list. Instead, Allentown will stick with its policy dating back to 2002 to share names of suspected priests with law enforcement officials if accusations arise, spokesman Matt Kerr said. When Kerr was asked why a public list wasn't being considered, he declined to say, but added that the church has long encouraged victims and survivors of abuse to come forward. Allentown was the last of the six dioceses under grand jury investigation to admit they had been subpoenaed, waiting a week after other dioceses to confirm the probe. The diocese also waited six weeks to tell parishioners at St. Ann's Church in Emmaus in 2016 that images of nude children were found on computers owned by the pastor, according to the Morning Call. Instead, parishioners were told to pray for his health for six weeks, then they learned about his arrest. Kerr said it is Diocesan policy to inform parishioners and issue a news release when a priest is removed from ministry for allegations of sexual abuse. But in the case of the child pornography, he said the pastor left the parish to undergo treatment for serious medical issues before any crimes were known. When the Diocese learned of possible crimes, he said, the matter was turned over to law enforcement and they did not want make an announcement because they didn't want to interfere with the ongoing investigation. The Lehigh District Attorney later affirmed their handling of the matter, Kerr said. Pittsburgh A spokesman for the Pittsburgh Diocese initially did not provide a statement, but provided one April 6 from Father Nicholas Vaskov that indicated they have no plans to release a list of names. "The Diocese of Pittsburgh has consistently released the names of those accused of sexual abuse of minors to the proper civil authorities and have also released them to the state Attorney General's office as part of the ongoing grand jury investigation. As this investigation is not yet complete, we do not intend to make a change to this practice."
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