WASHINGTON D.C.
Washington Post
October 15, 2018
By Michelle Boorstein and Julie Zauzmer
The Catholic Archdiocese of Washington released a list Monday of 31 priests credibly accused of abuse since 1948, saying in a letter to clergy that the move is “a necessary step toward full transparency and accountability and the process of healing.”
The letter says the list includes the names of all priests credibly accused in the past 70 years. It includes 28 priests of the archdiocese and three priests not based in the archdiocese but who worked in its schools or parishes. The three were members of religious orders, or independent communities.
It says there are no archdiocesan priests in active ministry who have faced a credible allegation of abuse of a minor, and that “there has not been an incident of abuse of a minor by a priest of the archdiocese in almost two decades.” It does not say how recently accusers came forward, how many victims of the priests there are, nor whether the cases were taken to civil authorities.
It wasn’t immediately clear whether the list would be news to members of any of the accused priests’ communities. Some of the cases were well-publicized, while others were not. While 18 of the 31 were arrested, 13 never were, and of those, only five of the 13 were listed in a publicly searchable database of accused priests.
The letter comes amid huge turmoil in a part of the U.S. church that had seemed to have evaded the abuse crisis. But in June, the previous archbishop — Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, a popular figure in the U.S. church — was suspended amid allegations that he abused children and adults. He later resigned. Four days ago, Cardinal Donald Wuerl, a top ally of Pope Francis, retired after months of criticism that he had mishandled abuse allegations when he was in the Pittsburgh diocese, and hasn’t been completely transparent in D.C., either.
There are 196 Catholic dioceses or archdioceses — organizing regions — in the United States, according to the Web site of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. More than 50 of those have in recent years published lists of accused priests, said Terry McKiernan, whose site BishopAccountability.org advocates for such lists to come out.
Even when the accused priests are long deceased or removed from ministry, it can still be psychologically powerful for victims to see a comprehensive list of names published, McKiernan said Monday evening.
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