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Mobile, Birmingham Catholic Clergy Accused of Child Sex Abuse to Be Identified

By Christopher Harress
AL.com
November 9, 2018

https://www.al.com/news/2018/11/mobile-birmingham-catholic-clergy-accused-of-child-sex-abuse-to-be-identified.html

The Archdiocese of Mobile announced Friday that it will publish a list of clergy removed from the ministry due to accusations of child sex abuse dating back to the 1950s.

The dioceses of Birmingham, Biloxi, and Jackson (MS) will also produce lists of clergy accused of similar abuses, according to the press release.

“It is a time-consuming effort to examine each clergy personnel file from the last almost 7 decades,” said the Archbishop of Mobile Thomas J. Rodi. “This effort is underway and will be completed as quickly as possible.”

The announcement comes a week after the Archdiocese of New Orleans released the names of 57 priests and other clergy that faced “credible” accusations of child sex abuse. All of those accused have since died or been removed from the clergy, according to the Archbishop of New Orleans Gregory Aymond.

Of the total, 20 priests named by Aymond were also responsible for investigating the child sex abuse accusations.

“I believe it is the right thing to do in order to foster the healing of victims, in a spirit of transparency, and in the pursuit of justice,” Aymond wrote, adding, “Jesus reminds us, ‘The truth will set you free.’”

The list was handed to the Orleans Parish District Attorney.

AL.com has asked Mobile District Attorney Ashley Rich if she will examine the names once the list is produced. She has yet to respond.

Earlier this year, more than a dozen states launched full investigations into child sex abuse at the hands of Catholic clergy, an issue that first gained nationwide prominence during the late 1980s and early 1990s. Federal prosecutors also recently began a statewide investigation into abuses across Pennsylvania, where it’s predicted that around 1000 children were abused by 300 Catholic priests over the last 70 years, according to a Grand Jury report from August.

The report said that it was likely thousands more had been abused but their records had been lost or they were too afraid to come forward.

Since the late 1990s, Archdioceses across the country have compensated victims in multi million dollar payouts. The Roman Catholic Diocese of Dallas, for example, paid out more than $30 million to twelve victims in 1998 in what was one of the first major settlements in the country. Since then hundreds of cases involving thousands of victims have seen more than $3 billion paid out by various dioceses across the country.

The result for at least eight archdioceses was bankruptcy, which depending on how much money the diocese has, can mean a smaller or no payout for victims. Most dioceses in this situation file what’s known as Chapter 11 bankruptcy, which allows them to reorganize their debts.

It’s not yet known what the criminal or civil implications will be when the names are unveiled in Alabama. In recent years the lifting of the civil statute of limitations in some states has resulted in decades-old child sex abuse claims coming forward. In Alabama, the current civil statute of limitations is two years from the date of the injury.

 

 

 

 

 




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