More Jesuit provinces announce plans to release list of accused priests

By Michael J. O’loughlin
America Magazine
November 19, 2018

https://www.americamagazine.org/faith/2018/11/19/more-jesuit-provinces-announce-plans-release-list-accused-priests

Supporter of S.N.A.P., Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, walk in memory of alleged abuse victim outside the Nov 12 assembly of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops in Baltimore. Photo by Kevin J. Parks

Following the announcement earlier this month that Jesuits in the western part of the United States will release a list of credibly accused priests and brothers on Dec. 7, two more provinces, which cover most of the middle and southern parts of the United States, will follow suit.

“We take this step in the spirit of transparency and reconciliation,” Brian Paulson, S.J., the provincial of the Midwest Province, said in a press release. “As we look back at our history, the failures of the Church and the Society of Jesus to protect those entrusted to its care fill our hearts with outrage, sorrow and shame. On behalf of the Midwest Jesuits, I sincerely apologize to victims and their families for the harm and suffering you have endured. Many have suffered in silence for decades. Our concern and prayers are with the victim-survivors and we hope and pray that this step will strengthen the trust of those we serve.”

The Midwest Province will publish its list on Dec. 17 and will update it following further investigations.

Meanwhile, Ronald A. Mercier, S.J., who leads the Central and Southern Province, said in a separate statement released on Monday, “The People of God deserve transparency from the leadership of the Church.”

The Central and Southern Province has contracted a firm headed by a former F.B.I. executive to compile a comprehensive report, which will include allegations dating back to 1960. A spokeswoman for the province told America in an email sent Tuesday morning that the audit will consist of “a review of the files of men who entered, died or were dismissed after 1959. Therefore, it will include allegations that predate 1960.” The province will publish a preliminary list on Dec. 7 but said the final report will not be available the spring of 2019.

“It is my hope that through the publication of this information, we can work to rebuild trust, always with the well-being of victims in mind,” Father Mercier added. “On behalf of the Jesuits of the USA Central and Southern Province, I apologize to the victims for the pain caused by Jesuits in the past.” (Father Mercier serves on the board of America Media.)

Father Paulson said that he anticipates that some of the names on the list will already have been known publicly.

The Central and Southern Province covers Alabama, Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, southern Illinois, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, New Mexico, Texas, Tennessee and Oklahoma as well as Puerto Rico and the Central American country of Belize. The Midwest Province is comprised of most of Illinois, as well as Iowa, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, Wisconsin and Wyoming.

Of the two remaining provinces, the Maryland Province is expected to make a similar announcement “soon,” a spokesman told America, while the Northeast Province is “reviewing files and determining how best to release information regarding allegations of abuse.” (The Maryland and Northeast Provinces are in the process of merging.)

Father Paulson said that he anticipates that some of the names on the list will already have been known publicly, through media reports, court records or lists released by dioceses. But he said in an effort to be transparent, the Midwest Province decided, in consultation with Jesuits in Rome and other U.S. provincials, to release a list of credibly accused priests dating back to 1955.

Jesuits in the Midwest and Central and Southern Provinces have not been immune to the church’s ongoing sexual abuse crisis.

In 2013, court records revealed that Jesuits in Chicago concealed abusive priests in the 1960s and 1970s, including Donald J. McGuire, a one-time Jesuit who in 2009 was sentenced to 25 years in prison for molesting a minor. Those revelations resulted in a settlement of $19.6 million with six men. In 2015, the Society settled a case for $925,000 with a man who claimed he was abused at a suburban Chicago Jesuit high school in the 1970s by Donald O’Shaughnessy, S.J., who died in 2013.

Earlier this year, revelations that Jesuits in New Orleans settled cases in the early 2000s involving allegations of sexual abuse that took place decades ago, including at a Jesuit high school, prompting church leaders there to seek forgiveness.