SAN FRANCISCO (CA)
OSV News [Huntington IN]
May 23, 2025
By Gina Christian
The San Francisco Archdiocese is countering claims by abuse survivors’ representatives that “a pervasive pattern of abuse” is still occurring there, saying newly released data shows most alleged cases of clergy sexual abuse took place decades ago.
On May 21, the Jeff Anderson & Associates law firm alerted media to the release of abuse claims data specifying details of alleged abuse, including the initials of the accused, along with the parishes, schools and dates associated with the alleged incidents.
The data — anonymized and aggregated from claims submitted by survivors — had been authorized for release in March by Judge Dennis Montali, who is presiding over the archdiocese’s bankruptcy case. The San Francisco Archdiocese filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization in 2023 to resolve well over 500 claims of abuse.
Pachulski Stang Ziehl & Jones, the law firm representing the creditors’ committee, noted in a separate media release that “no survivor objected to disclosure of the anonymous form of Claims Data.”
The data showed that 81% of archdiocesan parishes were implicated in the abuse claims, with some survivors as young as 2 and 3 years old at the time of the alleged abuse.
Along with the claims data, Montali authorized the release of meeting minutes from the archdiocese’s independent review board, a consultative body mandated for each diocese by the “Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People,” established in 2002 by the US. Conference of Catholic Bishops amid a number of emerging clerical abuse scandals.
Commonly called the Dallas Charter, the document lays out a comprehensive set of procedures for addressing allegations of sexual abuse of minors by Catholic clergy, and includes guidelines for reconciliation, healing, accountability and prevention of abuse.
Anderson’s firm said the claims data showed “a horrific and tangled web of decades of crimes, cover-up, and deceptive practices that protected predators, some of which continues to this day.”
San Francisco Archdiocese Says Most Abuse Happened ‘Decades Ago’
However, in a May 21 statement, the archdiocese said the “overwhelming majority” of the alleged claims “occurred many decades ago involving priests who are deceased or no longer in ministry.”
“Any single case of abuse of a child is too many,” the archdiocese’s statement said. “This is why the Archdiocese of San Francisco treats every accusation of sexual abuse seriously, and immediate steps are taken to protect the rights of both the alleged abuse survivor and the alleged abuser.”
In its statement, the San Francisco Archdiocese highlighted its safe environment protocols, saying it “uses stringent processes to screen volunteers, employees, and priests.”
It added, “While sexual abuse continues to be a widespread societal problem, occurrences of abuse within the Church today are very rare, and we believe the Church has set the standard for other organizations, showing what can and should be done to protect children.”
Representatives for those victimized by clergy pointed out that sexual abuse survivors may take years to come forward with allegations, and argued the claims data only showed part of the true scope of the problem.
“These numbers tell only a small part of this shocking narrative,” said Margie O’Driscoll, co-chair of the survivors’ committee, in a May 21 media release from Pachulski Stang Ziehl & Jones. “For every person who came forward, there are more who have not come forward due to shame, fear of repercussion, or concern about their professional reputation.”
Still, the archdiocese argued, the record of Archbishop Salvatore J. Cordileone “and the actions of his predecessors in recent decades show that archdiocesan policies have been effective.”
Data Analysis of Dallas Charter Impact
Previously, the San Francisco Archdiocese conducted an analysis of 3,832 priestly personnel files spanning 1950 through the end of 2019, finding that 2.3% of priests in archdiocesan ministry after 1950 had been accused of abusing children, with 90% of the alleged incidents dated prior to 2002, when the USCCB adopted the Dallas Charter.
That data would seem to align with a 20-year analysis of the charter’s impact released in January by the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate at Georgetown University.
Over the period 2004-2023, a total of 16,276 allegations of minors by priests, deacons and religious were deemed credible by dioceses, eparchies and religious communities in the U.S. — 82% by dioceses and eparchies, and 18% by religious orders.
CARA stressed that these credible allegations occurred over a span of more than 80 years, with a majority of dioceses, eparchies and religious communities of men having no allegations in a particular survey year. It found 92% of the credible allegations were dated to 1989 or earlier, with 5% occurring in the 1990s and 3% occurring since 2000.
San Francisco Archdiocese Urges Daily Prayer
The San Francisco Archdiocese is seeking through its bankruptcy case to “stay focused on accelerating the mediation process, come to a global settlement, and give some sense of closure for the victims,” Peter Marlow, the archdiocese’s communications director, told OVS News. He said this approach was a “key message we took away” from listening sessions with survivors.
In its May 21 statement, the archdiocese urged daily prayer “for the survivors of abuse at the hands of Church ministers, that survivors may turn to God as the only source of their healing and peace. We also pray for the eradication of this shameful crime from our society as a whole.”
Gina Christian is a multimedia reporter for OSV News. Follow her on X @GinaJesseReina.