New York
Archdiocese names 120 priests accused of sex abuse
Church abuse watchdogs and
lawyers for abuse accusers said the release of the list was a positive step,
but some of them saw it as incomplete.
By JENNIFER PELTZyesterday
St. Patrick's Cathedral
in New York. The nation’s second-largest archdiocese released a list of names on
Friday, April 26, 2019. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer, File
Ít nhất 120 tu sĩ thuộc tổng giáo phận New York bị cáo buộc ngược đãi
tình dục hay lưu giữ các hình ảnh khiêu dâm với trẻ em
NEW
YORK (AP) — At least 120 priests accused of sexually abusing a child or having
child pornography have worked in the Archdiocese of New York, the archdiocese
said Friday in releasing a list of names that includes bishops, high school
teachers, a scouting chaplain and a notorious cardinal.
The release, from the nation’s
second-largest Roman Catholic archdiocese, follows more than 120 such
disclosures from other dioceses around the country as the church reckons with
demands for transparency about sex abuse by clergy.
In a letter to church members, Cardinal
Timothy Dolan said he realizes “the shame that has come upon our church due to
the sexual abuse of minors.” He asked forgiveness “for the failings of those
clergy” who betrayed the trust invested in them to protect young people.
“It is my heartfelt prayer that together
we as a family of faith may be healed,” Dolan added.
It doesn’t include accused
members of religious orders who worked in the archdiocese’s churches and
schools, though some orders have released their own lists. Nor does it list
priests who were ordained elsewhere and later served in New York.
And there are no details on
accused priests’ past assignments or the allegations against them, although
some have emerged in news accounts, lawsuits and criminal cases.
“It’s certainly a good thing
that they’ve come out with the list,” said Terry McKiernan of Bishop
Accountability, a watchdog group. But “do they still not see that this very,
very reluctant way of offering information about the crisis is the wrong way
for them?”
Archdiocese spokesman Joseph
Zwilling said that “the important thing is that we have released all of the
names of priests that have a credible and substantiated charge brought against
them,” plus those awaiting a church determination on allegations, and those
newly accused through an archdiocese-run compensation process.
The program has paid out $65
million to over 350 people in the past three years.
The list includes priests
ordained between 1908 and 1988. Many have died, and the archdiocese said none
is currently working in the ministry.
Most of the alleged abuse
happened in the 1970s, ’80s and early ’90s, but there have been two credible
allegations of sex abuse by active clergy since 2002, according to the
archdiocese. It said authorities were alerted about both those cases.
Some
priests on the list were convicted of sex crimes, including the late Rev.
Edward Pipala, who served seven years in federal prison after admitting in 1993
to taking at least 11 boys across state lines for illicit sex.
The list also includes
once-high-ranking church officials.
Former Cardinal Theodore
McCarrick, who was ordained in New York, became archbishop of Washington and
one of the most visible church officials in the U.S.
Then, in February, he became
the first cardinal defrocked in the sex abuse scandal of recent years. An
internal church investigation had found him guilty. McCarrick’s lawyer declined
to comment Friday.
Bishop John Jenik was removed
from his public duties in November after being accused of inappropriate
behavior with a teenage boy in the 1980s — an accusation he denies. The Vatican
is reviewing the matter.
Bishop James McCarthy resigned
in 2002 after the archdiocese was alerted about his affairs with women, which
he acknowledged. He mentioned starting a relationship with a woman when she was
around 21 years old, but some questions were later raised about whether she’d been
underage.
No charges were filed, and the
church hasn’t made a determination. A message was left Friday evening at a
possible phone number for McCarthy.
Others were school leaders and
teachers, deacons, parish priests, and clerics who worked with charities and
youth groups.
One served as a Catholic Youth
Organization director in New York and as national chaplain of the National
Catholic Committee on Scouting in the 1970s, when he allegedly abused a boy at
a summer camp, according to news accounts. The priest died in 1984, over two
decades before the allegations became publicly known.
Based at St. Patrick’s
Cathedral, the New York Archdiocese includes parts of New York City and several
counties north of the city. The only U.S. archdiocese with more Catholics is
that of Los Angeles.
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