Two years ago, the largest diocese in New York released a list of Catholic priests with credible sexual assault allegations against them.

The general public is growing increasingly aware of sexual abuse that has long been perpetrated by Catholic priests and significant actions are being taken across the country to finally deal with this widespread issue.

After the Pennsylvania grand jury report published in mid-2018 that named more than 300 Catholic priests accused of sexually abusing more than 1,000 children across decades, other states and dioceses within them have been spurred to start their own investigations as well.

What Did the Brooklyn Diocese Report Reveal?

In February 2019, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn named more than 100 New York Catholic priests who had faced credible accusations of child sexual abuse. This list covers decades of allegations from local parishes and Catholic schools.

Child sex abuse advocates said that they had been aware of a certain number of suspected abusers in this diocese, but this newly-revealed list essentially doubled that number, according to the New York Times report on the issue.

New York has been working on ways to strengthen its abuse reporting laws, including through the Child Victims Act. The Child Victims Act has been adjusted to extend the timeframe for victims of childhood sexual abuse to file lawsuits against their abusers. The statute of limitations was expanded from age 23 to 55 for civil cases, and until age 28 for criminal prosecution. The CVA also included a one-year look back window for previously expired cases to be filed. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which hit New York particularly hard early on, the window was extended until first Jan. 14, 2021, and then extended for a final time until Aug. 14, 2021.

Brooklyn is one of the largest dioceses in the nation, incorporating Brooklyn and Queens in New York City, which contains approximately 1.5 million people who identify as Catholic.

How do Accusations in Other States Compare?

Just before the Brooklyn diocese report, five Catholic dioceses in New Jersey released a list of nearly 200 Catholic priests with credible accusations leveled against them, according to the New York Times.

The Brooklyn diocese’s list of accused Catholic priests is one of the longest lists yet from a single diocese, along with archdioceses in Los Angeles and Boston. By comparison, the Pennsylvania grand jury report of 300 predator priests covered allegations in six total dioceses.

“It is good that Brooklyn included previously unknown abusers by putting them on this list, but it also leaves a lot to be desired,” Terry McKiernan, president of the clerical abuse tracking website BishopAccountability.org, told the New York Times.

Indeed, one concerning factor is that in the creation of this list, the Brooklyn diocese was able to choose names and information at its own discretion, which calls into question the actual transparency of the list.

Sister Sally Butler, a Dominican nun in Brooklyn who is a member of Catholic Whistleblowers, told the Times that the list has some names on it that she never thought the diocese would have included, surpassing her expectations. However, “There are some missing names on this list that have me wondering,” she said. “I think some people are still being protected.”

A Worldwide Problem

The issue of Catholic priests and other clergy members sexually assaulting and abusing minor children is not confined to the United States – and the scandal has reached into Pope Francis’ own inner circle. One of the Pope’s advisors, Cardinal George Pell of Australia, was recently convicted of sexually abusing two choirboys in 1996; another, Cardinal Francisco Javier Errazuriz of Chile, is under investigation by law enforcement in Santiago over allegations that he was aware of the abuse and did nothing to hold the offenders accountable.

In late June, the Catholic newspaper Crux reported that public prosecutors in Spain are calling for an investigation by the country’s Ministry of Justice into allegations of sexual abuse of underage youth. According to their report, there were over 1,000 cases in Spain involving underage victims in which offenders were prosecuted – but they say that the true scope of the problem is unknown because these crimes occur “[in] environments traditionally clad in certain opacity.”

According to La Croix, another Catholic news outlet, the Church in Liberia has also been experiencing a major sex scandal, although not all the victims were minors. Similar investigations are currently underway in Austria and the Netherlands.

Pope Francis has come under criticism for not acting more assertively in addressing the issue of sexual abuse in the Church. In January 2019, the Pontiff finally wrote a letter to bishops in the U.S. in which he acknowledged, “The Church’s credibility has been seriously undercut and diminished by these sins and crimes, but even more by the efforts made to deny or conceal them.”

Can I File a Catholic Priest Sex Abuse Lawsuit?

If you or someone you love has been sexually assaulted or abused by a priest or other Catholic church leader, you may be able to file a lawsuit and pursue compensation. Remember that you are not alone and that legal help is available to you.

Of course, filing a lawsuit cannot take away the pain and suffering caused by sexual abuse, but it can at least help to provide financial compensation. Litigation can also help hold those responsible for the abuse accountable for their actions—and those who have helped cover up the abuse responsible for their part, too.

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