Media Statements

We're here to protect innocent kids and vulnerable adults. We’re not here to punish or persecute anyone. This is about public safety and victims’ healing. When those happen, then it may be time for forgiveness or redemption,which are, in fact, private actions, not public actions. Public actions are what will keep others safe and help others heal.

Dear Archbishop Cordileone,

A retired priest from the Diocese of Springfield-Cape Girardeau, Frederick Lutz, has been arrested and charged with molesting a child. The media reports that his first known crimes occurred in 1972. According to Fr. Lutz’ work history, two years after molesting a child in Missouri Lutz was suddenly “on leave” in the Archdiocese of San Francisco.

Despite knowing of “credible” allegations against one of their priests in 2002, Catholic officials from the Diocese of Springfield – Cape Girardeau reportedly allowed the priest to continue working for nine more years, exposing countless more children to harm and reneging on their promise to enforce “zero tolerance” against clerics accused of abuse the very same year that promise was first made.

A priest from the Episcopal Church in Western Massachusetts pleaded guilty to possession of child pornography on the same day that Church officials revealed they “received devastating credible evidence” that the cleric had sexually abused a teenager. We hope that these allegations can be prosecuted and that another probably dangerous child abuser will be put behind bars where he belongs.

A Pennsylvania priest who molested a young girl after being removed from a previous assignment for allegations of abuse was sentenced to prison yesterday. We are grateful that this abuser is finally away from children and hope that this news will encourage other victims and witnesses to come forward to police.

A Mississippi congressman is calling for intervention by the Department of Justice into a case against a Franciscan brother who is accused of abusing three young boys in Mississippi. We applaud the efforts by the congressman and his office and hope that his call for change will lead to a full investigation of this troubling case. 

To the dismay of survivors and advocates in South Dakota, critically needed reform was voted down in the state House of Representatives today. We hope that legislation to change the civil statute of limitations for child sexual abuse will continue to be introduced during every session until the South Dakota's lawmakers finally recognize the need for this importance change.

The guilty verdict delivered against Harvey Weinstein is a win for survivors everywhere. This case and its example has been critical to the recent, years-long awakening of the world to the realities of sexual violence and how this crime is commonly committed by people in positions of power. We hope that this conviction will bring not only healing to Weinstein's survivors, but also hope to all survivors of sexual violence.

Last week the Colorado Sun published a story about a man who says he was abused by a prominent clergyman from the Archdiocese of Denver, Msgr. Lawrence St. Peter. According to the article, the priest also spent as many as 10 years in Virginia. The Colorado Attorney General's report on Catholic clergy abuse said that there was evidence that Msgr. St. Peter had abused at least three minors, in addition to the allegations in the Sun piece.

A retired priest from the Diocese of Springfield-Cape Girardeau has been charged with multiple counts of child sexual abuse. We are grateful to the Stoddard County Prosecuting Attorney for bringing this case forward, but we believe the local faithful should pay close attention to the timeline and ask their leaders some difficult questions about whether or not the Dallas Charter was followed.