Media Statements

For immediate release, May 14, 2019

The California Catholic Dioceses have announced their plans to create a compensation fund for survivors of clergy abuse. While we appreciate the gesture, we hope that survivors in California will carefully consider their options before signing on.

Charlotte's Catholic bishop will has finally decided to follow in the footsteps of most of his brother bishops and release a list of clergy who have been publicly accused of abuse. Yet, for some reason, he was unable to commit to releasing the list promptly, only agreeing to do so “by the end of the year.”

While we are glad that Bishop Peter Jugis is finally taking this much belated and long overdue step, it is challenging to understand why it took so long to reach this decision. In his statement, Bishop Jugis says that he began the review process last fall: why then, can he not put a preliminary list out today and then continue to add and update as more information comes in? That would be the better thing to do, and more in line with the Church’s pledges to be “open and honest” about the clergy sex abuse scandal.

The longer information about abusers remains hidden, the less informed communities are and the greater the risk to the vulnerable. Most bishops around the country have already released names and other information to the public. Bishop Jugis should not need the rest of the year to follow suit and should be able to commit to more than this vague deadline.

When the bishop does release his list, we hope that it is the single-most comprehensive list of its kind in the country. The extra time needed by Church officials in the Diocese of Charlotte should let them ensure that their list contains not only names and current status and whereabouts, but also headshots, work histories for each of the accused, dates the allegations were received and detailed information on what steps Church officials in Charlotte took in response to those allegations.

It is also worth pointing out that in his statement Bishop Jugissays that any allegation he uncovers in his "comprehensive review" will be forwarded to the Lay Review Board for examination, yet makes no mention of police or prosecutors. Institutions cannot police themselves and the only way to get to the bottom of the clergy abuse scandal and determine who knew what, when they knew, and what they did with that information is by involving the secular professionals in law enforcement.

We commend Governor Phil Murphy, Senator Joseph Vitale, Assemblywoman Annette Quijano, NJ SNAP leader Mark Crawford, and the hundreds of survivors and advocates who made this dramatic reform of the statute of limitations (SOL) in New Jersey possible. The new law will be one of the best in the nation, granting all sexual abuse survivors the opportunity to access the justice system. 

Earlier this month, a Conroe County Grand Jury indicted allegedly abusive priest Fr. Manuel LaRosa Lopez. Today, that case moves forward.

We are very sad that any law enforcement officer would face threats for doing his or her job and we are distressed that the Michigan attorney general has suffered in this way. We hope Michigan's bishops quickly and harshly condemn this hatred. Violence is never the answer.

A lack of policies or procedures has never been the main problem in the clergy sex abuse scandal. Rather, it has been a lack of accountability for hierarchs who conceal sex crimes and a deficit of courage and willingness to take immediate, decisive action on those who have enabled those crimes to occur.

--Fr. John R. Shepherd, who was a Jesuit and who worked in Arizona and spent time in at least five California towns: Los Angeles, San Jose, Los Altos and Azusa. In 1954-1955, he was at Ryan Preparatory Junior Seminary in Fresno.

http://jesuitswest.org/Assets/Publications/File/JW_List_1207_English.pdf

We applaud this brave survivor who had the courage to come forward, name her abuser publicly, and demand action from the Archdiocese of Boston. And when a survivor speaks truth to power, we hope that others – both in the Archdiocese of Boston and within the community – are listening and learning.

The below list of accused priests was compiled by SNAP Northern California leader Joey Piscitelli. These are men who worked and spent time in the Diocese of Fresno but are not listed on the diocesan list of accused priests.

--Fr. Julian Haas, whose status is listed as “removed from ministry / under supervision” on a list of credibly accused Capuchin Franciscans (based inDenver, 303-477-5436 or [email protected],  [email protected]).