READING (PA)
Readiing Eagle
March 1, 2019
By Carol Balinski:
One of the recent reports from a state’s Roman Catholic dioceses listing names of priests credibly accused of sexual abuse of children hit close to home for me.
When I saw news reports last month that New Jersey’s dioceses had released the names of 188 priests and deacons, I felt compelled to go online to see if any of those priests had served at my childhood parish in the Camden Diocese. At the same time, I felt a sense of foreboding. There was one priest in particular whose name I dreaded seeing on the list. He was a priest whom my late mother had held in high regard and who presided at my wedding ceremony. Finding out he had been accused of sexual abuse would feel like a betrayal of my mother’s trust in him.
I breathed a sigh of relief when I did not find that priest’s name on the list. There was only one priest on the list who served my home parish, but his tenure came after I had left home for college and converted to Protestantism. I did not know him.
But, for a moment, I understood more fully what many Catholics and former Catholics in Berks County went through last August when the groundbreaking Pennsylvania grand jury report identified priests who had been accused of sexual abuse. Some, like me, may have felt relief at not finding names of beloved priests on the list. But, for others who saw names they recognized, feelings of disbelief, sadness, betrayal or anger must have been overwhelming.
The New Jersey list was the result of an internal review spurred by a law enforcement investigation announced last year after Pennsylvania led the way with its grand jury report.
According to www.vox.com, at least 13 other states and Washington, D.C., have launched investigations into allegations of sexual abuse or cover-ups involving the Catholic Church. In addition to New Jersey, those states are New Mexico, New York, Nebraska, Missouri, Illinois, Michigan, Vermont, Maryland, Florida, Virginia, Kentucky and Wyoming.
On Monday, the Diocese of Sioux City, Iowa, published a list of priests who have been credibly accused of sexual abuse involving minors.
The Diocese of Sioux City, Iowa, released the following statement Monday: “As you review the list, it is important to remember the accusations, while considered credible, are not the equivalent of conviction in a court of law. Many of the accused priests are deceased and cannot defend themselves.”
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