In light of increasing information about the widespread accusations that many Catholic Church priests sexually abused parishioners and other members of the church, both the Church and the community are attempting to find ways forward, by setting up victim compensation funds and by attempting to respect the experience of abuse survivors in other ways. 

In February, the Brooklyn Diocese released a list of over 100 priests in their diocese have been “credibly accused of abusing a child,” according to the New York Times. So, the problem is far from settled.

Additionally, New York dioceses are far from exempt from the problem of the Catholic Church sex scandal cover up.

In fact, victims say that one of the ways in which the New York dioceses are attempting to reckon with priests accused of sexual abuse does not help solve the problem, but is just another part of the Catholic Church sex scandal cover up.

Some New York dioceses have reportedly changed the way they honor deceased priests who have been accused of sexual abuse. Buffalo Bishop Richard J. Malone made the decision in 2013 to remove the title of “Reverend” or “Father” from death notices about priests who faced credible accusations of sexual abuse.

Under the new policy, these titles may appear on headstones, though not in death notices. Allegedly, this was done in an attempt to be more sensitive to abuse survivors, according to The Buffalo News. However, some survivors say that this compounds the problem of the Catholic Church sex scandal cover up, rather than to help people heal from it.

Allegedly, the Catholic Church in New York and around the country has not been transparent enough about the abuse committed by priests. Many people claim that there was a systemic cover up of the sexual abuse epidemic in the church, one which sadly may be still ongoing.

One part of this alleged Catholic Church sex abuse cover up is allegedly to protect priests at all costs, either by burying the accusations brought forward by the people who said they were abused, or by transferring the priests to other parishes after they have been accused of misconduct.

Now, the practice of removing the “Reverend” and “Father” titles from bios of accused priests after their death is coming under fire for effectively protecting the priests and concealing the extent of the problem of Catholic Church sex abuse.

According to Tim Lennon, president of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, this practice seems like “another method to keep it undercover.” He says, “To me, it’s a consistent policy of the church, going back decades, of hiding and covering up.”

Lennon makes the criticism that “at all costs, the reputation of the church is more important than anything.” According to many survivors, this obscuring of titles in death notices is just one way in which the church obscures records about sex abuse cases.

Terry McKiernan, co-director of BishopAccountability.org, an organization recording the Catholic Church sex abuse scandal in the United States and abroad said that the church’s efforts to be more sensitive to survivors may just “edge across into a cone of silence,” magnifying the problem of Catholic Church sex abuse.

In one instance, members of a parish in which a priest was accused of sexual abuse were not aware of the accusations until after his death, nor were they aware of the of the plan for his funeral.

So, when a list of 42 priests identified as child sex offenders in the Buffalo dioceses was released, parishioners may have faced an unpleasant surprise to read the name of their former priest on the list, and the fact that “Reverend” was left off of his death announcement may have come as cold comfort.

This article is not legal advice. It is presented
for informational purposes only.