The Catholic Church in New York recently released the names of priests accused of abuse, including a total of 120 clergy members.

According to the Archdiocese of New York, the 115 priests and 5 deacons have been “credibly accused” of sexual abuse against children. This included 53 priests and deacons who were credibly accused of abuse, admitted to sexual abuse, were convicted of abuse or a related crime, or were a part of a civil settlement for sexual abuse.

59 other clergy members had either died or left the ministry before being accused of sexual abuse. The remaining 8 priests were reportedly defrocked and are awaiting disposition.

The list of names of priests accused of abuse also included the name of Theodore McCarrick. McCarrick, the former cardinal and archbishop of Washington, D.C., was found to be guilty of sexual abuse after an investigation by the Vatican. As a result, he was defrocked by the Church. McCarrick is one of the highest ranking Catholic church officials to be defrocked due to sexual abuse accusations.

Although McCarrick had risen to the role of archbishop at the time of his defrocking, he had formerly served as a priest in the Archdiocese of New York – earning him a place on the recent list of names released by the archdiocese.

The New York archdiocese’s recent release of names of priests accused of abuse is only one of many similar lists released by Catholic Church within the past year. In August 2018, a grand jury report revealed that over 300 priests in Pennsylvania had been accused of sexual abusing children. In February, nearly 300 clergy members from New Jersey and the Diocese of Brooklyn were revealed to have faced allegations of sexual abuse.

In states such as New York, the Catholic Church is accused of covering up the systematic abuse. This alleged coverup reportedly resulted in priests maintaining their positions that allowed them to abuse minors.

The archbishop of New York, Cardinal Timothy Dolan, asked forgiveness in a letter addressing members of the church and families affected by the abuse. Dolan apologized “for the failings of those clergy and bishops who should have provided for the safety of our young people but instead betrayed the trust placed in them by God and by the faithful.”

Dolan also notes that “there is not a single priest or deacon of the Archdiocese of New York against whom there has been a credible and substantiated claim of abuse against a minor currently in ministry.”

Although Dolan is attempting to make amends, some victim advocates are looking for more. The list is a good start, but advocates from the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) argue that a complete list would include the work histories of the accused clergy members so that communities around the country could identify if their church members were victims of abuse.

“Similarly, he should include information about when the archdiocese first received the allegations and what they did in response,” SNAP argues, according to NPR.

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

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