PORTLAND (OR)
Daily Astorian
The Catholic Archdiocese of Portland has a new archbishop. Alexander Sample from Marquette, Mich., is taking over the reins from Archbishop John Vlazny, who is retiring. …
But the group Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests is not happy with Sample’s promotion. The group says he took no real steps to warn families about eight priests in Marquette. Spokeswoman Barbara Dorris said those priests were “credibly accused” of molesting children.
“We see no evidence that he took any steps to do outreach to the victim, to encourage witnesses or whistleblowers to come forward, so that these crimes could be fully investigated,” Dorris said.
At the meeting to welcome Sample, he addressed the sex abuse scandal in the Catholic Church, saying he’s had a lot of experience listening and talking to victims.
“We have worked very hard to put in place measures that will protect children in the future,” Sample said. “Our safe environment programs, our back room checks, the educational effort that we have done. To reassure people that we are doing everything we can to protect our young people and our children from this happening again.”
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