Media Statements

A French cardinal saw his conviction for failing to report abuse overturned on appeal yesterday. We are concerned about the message sent by this news and hope that it does not embolden other Catholic officials, who continue to be opaque about cases of clergy sexual abuse.

Once again, secular journalists have uncovered names of clergy abusers that were not released by Catholic officials themselves. We are grateful to the journalists for diving into this issue and hope that their work will inspire both district attorneys and attorneys general to open investigations into these hidden perpetrators.

In a win for transparency and the survivor community, a New Orleans judge has granted a motion filed by the Associated Press related to emails exchanged between the Archdiocese of New Orleans and the New Orleans Saints. We applaud this ruling and look forward to the greater transparency that can result from it.

In November of 2018, a Houston-area mother reported that her daughter had been sexually assaulted by a priest during a confession rite at Nazareth Academy. Despite her report, nothing was done by diocesan or school officials.

Dear Commissioner Goodell,

Less than a week out from the NFL’s premier event, a storm in Louisiana is disrupting what should be the celebration of another season. As survivors of clergy sexual abuse and advocates for victims, we are turning to you to help weather this tempest.

An arrest warrant has been issued for a former priest from the Diocese of Dallas. We hope that church officials in Dallas will use every resource at their disposal to help law enforcement locate the priest and do outreach to every parish in which he served, encouraging any victims, witnesses, or whistleblowers to come forward and make a report to police.

Prosecutors in a Minnesota county have reached a settlement deal with church officials from the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis on charges stemming from the archdiocese’s failure to report allegations of child sexual abuse. We hope that the deal reached today will make children in Minnesota safer and believe that this deal is further evidence of the need for secular intervention into cases of clergy abuse.

A Michigan Catholic priest arrested last year on false imprisonment charges has been sentenced to 60 days in jail. This is another example that demonstrates the importance of secular, unbiased investigations. We hope this news encourages other victims, witnesses, and whistle-blowers to come forward and make a report to Michigan’s attorney general.

The Diocese of Fall River is one of the few remaining Catholic dioceses in this country that has not published a list of accused priests. So far, more than 150 US dioceses have named names. Not so in Fall River, a diocese that yesterday saw its fifth priest since November removed from active ministry because of allegations of sexual abuse or sexual misconduct.

A teacher who was accused of abuse at a Buffalo parochial school was allowed to quietly move to a nearby town and start teaching again, this despite apparent knowledge by Catholic officials that the teacher was an abuser. We applaud the man who came forward to share his story and hope that it encourages others who may have been hurt by this teacher to speak up and get help.