Diocese under fire for not naming accused priests

MANCHESTER – In the five years since Bishop John B. McCormack first publicly released the names of 14 Roman Catholic priests credibly accused of sexually abusing minors, the list has grown to 52 and should be posted in its entirety on the diocese's web site, the leader of a national support group for survivors of clergy abuse said yesterday.

"We believe he should reveal the names of all the predator priests. We think he has a moral and civic duty to do that because there are children who could be exposed to those individuals today and they could be needlessly hurt," said Barbara A. Blaine of Chicago, founder and president of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, known as SNAP.

Blaine was in Manchester to mark the fifth anniversary of McCormack's first disclosure of the names of allegedly abusive priests on Feb. 15, 2002.

Since then, Blaine said SNAP and other groups have tallied a total 52 priests from the Manchester diocese who have been credibly accused of child sexual abuse. She said the group counts 10 others who were "apparently from outside the diocese but were working here temporarily."

"We think the figures Bishop McCormack has given are incomplete and inconsistent," Blaine said. She called on the bishop to permanently list all the names on the diocese's Web site to keep the public informed.

But Blaine's numbers appear to match those provided by the diocese, at least with regard to diocesan priests.

Of the 55 priests accused of abusing children from 1943 to 2002, whom the Manchester diocese reported to the U.S. Catholic bishops for its 2004 study on the scope of the clergy abuse crisis, 52 were diocesan priests, the Rev. Edward J. Arsenault said last night. The other three came from outside the diocese and allegedly abused children here, he said.

By 2004, 22 of the 52 diocesan priests had died; two had received Vatican approval to voluntarily leave the priesthood; and one abandoned ministry and his whereabouts remain unknown, said Arsenault, the diocese's delegate for ministerial conduct.

The bishop sent the files of the 27 remaining priests to the Vatican in November 2002 for possible punitive action, church officials have said.

Since then, three of the 27 priests were defrocked and two have died, said diocesan spokesman Pat McGee. Some others were not defrocked, but had lesser penalties imposed by the Vatican, diocesan officials have said.

Arsenault conceded the diocese has not published the name of every priest credibly accused of child sexual abuse. But he said many were made public by the state Attorney General's Office and the diocese and through civil suits over the last five years. Most of the priests whose names have not been disclosed are dead, he added.

"We are not at the time going to publish any other names than those that have been published to date," Arsenault said.

But Blaine insisted that "none of those numbers will protect kids. The names would protect kids."

Arsenault said all priests with an accusation of child sexual abuse against them that bears a "semblance of truth" have been removed from ministry, he said. Arsenault said the "semblance of truth" standard is comparable to probable cause in a civil court.

Blaine said "it doesn't matter whether they are in ministry or not. Where ever they are working, their employers have a right and should know about their history. All the more so if they are working in a position where they have exposure to children.