Media Statements

A student may not graduate from college this spring because of his refusal to be silent about child sex abuse and cover up case in New Hampshire. He is Chris Peterman, and the case involves Chuck Phelps and Bob Jones University in SC.

Fr. Alejandro Castillo pled guilty to molesting a child. He served time in jail. He has been ordered by the court to be a registered sex offender. Despite that, San Bernardino Bishop Robert Barnes has done little to nothing to reach out to parishioners and other potential victims.  Why do we know that? Because Castillo's supporters, many of whom raised money for his bail, threw the child-molesting priest a party upon his release.

Amid nearly complete and callous - silence by Catholic officials in Missouri, Tennessee and Florida, Bishop Anthony O'Connell passed away last Friday. http://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/bishop/boconnell.html

It is unconscionable that a student could be denied his chance at graduation for refusing to be silent about a possible sexual-abuse cover-up, but unfortunately, witnesses and whistleblowers are often the targets of smear campaigns when they attempt to report what they may have seen.

We applaud the new charge against Bishop Finn. At the same time, however, this kind of legal maneuvering by the prosecutor wouldn’t even be necessary if not for Bishop Finn’s desperate hair-splitting defense moves. 

Last month, Hawaii officials made their state safer for children by enacting a law that will help expose dangerous child predators. The measure creates a two-year civil window for victims of child sexual abuse and opens the courthouse doors to dozens of victims who, until now, were denied justice. It also means that at least some child molesters - and any colleagues or supervisors who helped them hide their crimes - may be publicly exposed as the wrongdoers they are.

We are shocked that fourteen months after a grand jury raised concerns over 37 accused priests only 8 of these cases are resolved. 

First, let’s remember the grand jury cited concerns about 37 active priests last year, not 27. Philly archdiocesan officials quickly split hairs and distanced themselves from ten of the accused, saying they belong to religious orders or were incardinated elsewhere.

Shame on Cardinal Brady. Catholic bishops are monarchs with tremendous power. But when child sex abuse and cover up cases come to light, they pretend to be powerless. 

Soon Philadelphia Archbishop Charles Chaput will disclose the status of perhaps dozens of accused child molesting clerics. No matter what he specifically announces, we remain highly skeptical of church abuse processes.