Media Statements

In late 2018, the Diocese of Steubenville publicly named 16 priests that have been removed from their duties due to “credible” allegations of sexual abuse. Now, we are calling on them to update their list to include the names of twelve additional abusers who spent time in the Diocese of Steubenville.

A priest in Rhode Island last week used his bully pulpit to make ignorant and insensitive comments about clergy sexual abuse and now we are calling on Catholic officials in Rhode Island to publicly censure this cleric and denounce his remarks.

Saints owner Gayle Benson last night released a statement “clarifying” her organization’s role in the clergy abuse list released by the Archdiocese of New Orleans. Rather than release statements, we believe the best way for Mrs. Benson to truly clarify the situation would be to release the emails exchanged between the Saints and Catholic officials.

Dear Bishop Barber and Chancellor Wilcox:

A priest who resided and worked in the Oakland Diocese for at least sixteen years was added to the list of clergy with “substantiated allegation of child sexual abuse” by the Diocese of LaCrosse in Wisconsin earlier this week. He was previously named, in December of 2018, as  a cleric  with “established allegations of sexually abusing a minor” by the Jesuits Midwest Province. 

At his much-anticipated abuse summit last year, Pope Francis called for an “all-out battle” on clergy abuse. Now, on the anniversary of that summit, clergy abuse survivors and advocates are returning to Rome to mark the anniversary of the summit and demand more action and change.

According to a news report from KZRG, at least 20 states have begun using Catholic lists of those clerics “credibly accused” of child sexual abuse when screening former priests for employment. We applaud this move and hope that officials in every state and territory in the U.S. will do the same.

We are grateful any time that legislators look to take critical reforms to the statute of limitations in their state. At the same time, it is disappointing to see well-written and well-meaning bills, aimed at protecting children and securing justice for survivors, hobbled by amendments that slow the pace of reform and promote the status quo.

A former priest who was accused of sexual abuse worked for years as a victim’s advocate for a police department in Seattle. Now, an investigation is finally being launched by law enforcement into the allegations against him.

At his much-anticipated abuse summit last year, Pope Francis called for an “all-out battle” on clergy abuse. Now, on the anniversary of that summit, clergy abuse survivors and advocates are returning to Rome to mark the anniversary of the summit and demand more action and change.

Despite speaking publicly about the need for transparency and honesty with the public, church officials have silenced a Virginia priest for running a blog in which he was critical of church decisions and their strategy to handle abuse cases. We call on this decision to be reversed and hope that parishioners in Virginia will add their voice to ours.