New Hampshire Catholic Church website lists names of predator priests

MANCHESTER (NH)
Union Leader

July 31, 2019

By Mark Hayward

Catholic Church leaders in New Hampshire announced Wednesday that they have added to their website the names of dozens of priests accused of child sexual abuse going back to 1950.

The “Restoring Trust” website provides the year each priest was ordained, his parish assignments and his status, which ranges from convicted of crimes to “assigned to a life of prayer and penance.” Seventy-three names in total are listed.

The link to the list, however, is hard to find. It is at the bottom of the “Restoring Hope” page of the Church website.

“This is meant as an act of ownership and accountability. It is my hope that by making this information available, we are holding ourselves accountable to the evils of the past, and offering timely assistance, support and resources to those individuals and families who have been affected by the sexual abuse of a minor,” said Bishop Peter Libasci in a statement released Wednesday morning.

He also said “On behalf of my predecessors and the Church in New Hampshire, I am sorry. I seek your forgiveness for the grave sins of abuse and betrayal of trust that representatives of the Church committed.”

That contrasts with the words of his predecessor — retired Bishop John McCormack — who famously said “mistakes were made” when it came to the priest-sex abuse crisis, which unfolded in New Hampshire in the early 2000s under his watch.

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