Jesuit West Province to Release Priest Abuse Report Friday

By Joe Dana
NBC Channel 12
December 6, 2018

https://www.12news.com/article/news/local/valley/jesuit-west-province-to-release-priest-abuse-report-friday/75-d6661a54-faa4-4399-96c2-208a27928394

Tomorrow, faculty and staff at Brophy College Preparatory in Phoenix and 70 other Jesuit high schools and colleges throughout the west will likely pay close attention to what is revealed in a new report on priest abuse.

Jesuit West is a religious order of the Catholic Church that oversees Jesuit high schools and universities.

“While this is a necessary part of the healing process and reconciliation, I think what you will see with this list is the majority are cases dating back decades,” said Tracey Primrose, Director of Communications for Jesuits West Province. “There is no one who has a credible claim who is working actively in ministry in the Jesuits.”

Some of the men named in the report are deceased and did not have a chance to defend themselves against the accusations. But, the claims against those men have been evaluated and substantiated by the Jesuit West review board, Primrose said.

“This is us, on our own, deciding to do something transparent to be accountable," Primrose said. "Some of those names will have already been out there.”

Victims’ advocates across the country are anticipating the report as well.

"Any disclosure is good and we totally welcome that,” said Tim Lennon, board president of Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests, known as SNAP.

Lennon says the list could provide the opportunity for someone who has remained silent to see their perpetrator finally named.

"The other purpose is those who have been abused may look at the list and say, 'why isn't the person who abused me on the list?'" Lennon said.

Friday's announcement could also reveal more cover-ups by church institutions.

“We continue to find dramatic evidence of systematic cover-up by church hierarchy,” Lennon said, referring to recent grand jury investigations in Pennsylvania and Buffalo, N.Y. “So these reports pull the cover off of how much abuse has been going on and how much has been covered up by church institutions, whether it's a province of the Jesuits or whether it is your local diocese.”