Letter to Attorney Jonathan Albano

Dec. 10, 2009

Dear Mr. Jonathan Albano:

Thank you for your persistence in the long struggle to force Bridgeport’s Catholic bishop to disgorge thousands of pages of records about dangerous priests and their corrupt colleagues. And congratulations on your impressive achievement persuading judges that the actual physical safety of kids trumps the perceived religious privacy of adults.

But please don’t quit now. The most shocking records, we’re convinced, are still under wraps.

We firmly believe, based on our years of experiences with this scandal and with the secrecy of bishops, that much of what Bishop William Lori is withholding would not ultimately be deemed ‘privileged’ by a judge. (In Boston, for example, judges ruled that a wider range of church documents, including a number of records relating to therapy and medical matters, should be publicly released.)

We also believe that many of the records still under wraps will be particularly illuminating. By our rough reckoning, 50% of what’s been turned over have been depositions, 40% have been court filings, and only 10% have been internal church records, memos and correspondence. The latter documents – written by and to church officials who assumed no one else would ever see them – are almost the most helpful and revealing. We strongly suspect that more of these are still under wraps and can be exposed.

You’ve come so far and done such a public service. Please keep challenging the church hierarchy’s bogus claims of ‘privilege’ so that more of the truth about this horrific crisis is revealed.

Terry McKiernan
BishopAccountability.org
PO Box 541375
Waltham MA 02454
508 479 9304

David Clohessy
National Director, SNAP
Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests
7234 Arsenal Street
St. Louis MO 63143
314 566 9790 cell, 314 645 5915 home

Barbara Dorris
Outreach Coordinator, SNAP
Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests
6245 Westminster
St. Louis MO 63130
314 862 7688

SNAPnetwork.org