WASHINGTON (DC)
Religion News Service
July 27, 2019
By Julie Asher
As the Archdiocese of St. Louis released a list of names of archdiocesan clergy with substantiated allegations of sexual abuse of a minor July 26, Archbishop Robert J. Carlson acknowledged that seeing the names “will be painful” and publishing them “will not change the past.”
“Nothing will” change the past “but publishing their names is the right thing to do,” he said in a message to the faithful of the archdiocese, and it fulfills a promise he made last September to do so.
“It will be painful for all of us to see the names of clergy accused of behavior we can barely allow ourselves to imagine,” Carlson said.
“For years, victims have carried the burden of the crimes committed against them. In talking with many of them, I have witnessed the devastating impact on their lives and the lives of their loved ones,” he said, adding that the release of these names “is an important step in the long process of healing. And we are committed to that healing.”
The list is available online at www.archstl.org/list, along with the text of the archbishop’s message and a video message. The list itself is divided into four categories:
As the Archdiocese of St. Louis released a list of names of archdiocesan clergy with substantiated allegations of sexual abuse of a minor July 26, Archbishop Robert J. Carlson acknowledged that seeing the names “will be painful” and publishing them “will not change the past.”
“Nothing will” change the past “but publishing their names is the right thing to do,” he said in a message to the faithful of the archdiocese, and it fulfills a promise he made last September to do so.
“It will be painful for all of us to see the names of clergy accused of behavior we can barely allow ourselves to imagine,” Carlson said.
“For years, victims have carried the burden of the crimes committed against them. In talking with many of them, I have witnessed the devastating impact on their lives and the lives of their loved ones,” he said, adding that the release of these names “is an important step in the long process of healing. And we are committed to that healing.”
The list is available online at www.archstl.org/list, along with the text of the archbishop’s message and a video message. The list itself is divided into four categories.
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