The Church of today and its efforts in recent decades to aggressively screen its personnel, root out and publicize abusers, and respond pastorally to victims, is not fully represented in the Report. The Archdiocese reports all allegations to law enforcement; offers counseling assistance and other pastoral support to victims; publicizes allegations through vehicles other than our website list of priests and brothers; and presents allegations to the Independent Review Board for advice and accountability.
Does the Archdiocese agree with the Circuit Court’s decision to redact some names in the Attorney General’s Report?
The Circuit Court and the Attorney General have determined that the identity of some individuals should be redacted at this time, pending their notification. These individuals will have the right to respond before the Circuit Court decides whether it is appropriate to redact their names on a permanent basis.
The Report includes redactions of the names of 10 accused abusers. Their names were not redacted at the request of the Archdiocese. The Attorney General prepared the list of names to be redacted, and the court ordered it (see the court order HERE, page 30). None of the 10 individuals is in ministry today in the Archdiocese.
Why does the Attorney General’s Report name people whom the Archdiocese has not publicly identified?
As of April 5, 2023, the Archdiocese’s public list of accused child abusers, published voluntarily in 2002, now includes 152 priests and religious brothers. While the Archdiocese reports all allegations of child abuse to law enforcement, including the Office of the Attorney General, the list contains only priests and religious brothers and only those who have served in the Archdiocese of Baltimore.
The Archdiocese updated its online list with 39 new names. Why the update?
The Archdiocese of Baltimore updated its website to include a list of individuals included in the recent Attorney General’s Report that were not previously listed in the Archdiocese’s List of Priests and Brothers Accused of Child Sexual Abuse. This update occurred following a recommendation Archbishop William Lori made to the Independent Review Board, an interfaith group that includes experts from law enforcement, health care, academia, social work and the legal community. The Board endorsed the Archbishop’s recommendation as an important step to further the local church’s commitment to transparency and healing. The decision to update its website is also an acknowledgment of a recommendation by the Attorney General that the Archdiocese expand its voluntary list, which was first published in 2002 and is believed to be the only one of its kind in the region.
Why were certain names not included on the Archdiocese’s website earlier?
The Attorney General’s report is not a report of the Archdiocese. The Attorney General used differing criteria for including individuals in its report, and the 39 individuals listed as having been named in the Attorney General’s report but not previously named on the Archdiocese’s list were not previously listed primarily due to the differing criteria.
The overwhelming majority of the 39 individuals were not previously named on the Archdiocese’s website for one of three reasons:
- The alleged perpetrator is neither a priest nor a religious brother. (The Archdiocese’s list has not included lay people, religious sisters or deacons.)
- The alleged perpetrator never had an assignment in ministry in the Archdiocese.
- The alleged perpetrator was first accused of abuse after death and is the subject of a single, uncorroborated allegation.
Eight of the 39 individuals will also appear in the Archdiocesan List of Priests and Brothers Accused of Child Sexual Abuse as now meeting the criteria for inclusion in the Archdiocese’s list.
Why aren’t lay people or teachers on your published list of abusers?
The Archdiocese, in consultation with the Independent Review Board, designed the published list of abusers to provide transparency and accountability into clergy sexual abuse. The website list is not the only, and often not the most effective, vehicle used by the Archdiocese to disseminate information regarding allegations of child sexual abuse. Allegations against lay people, teachers, and clergy found to have abused children or youth in the Archdiocese are publicized through a number of communication methods, including parish meetings, bulletin notices, The Catholic Review, news releases, media interviews, and social media. The Archdiocese reports allegations of abuse to law enforcement and has zero tolerance for abuse whether it is committed by members of the clergy or lay people, including teachers.
Does the Archdiocese agree with the recommendation made to the Archdiocese by the Attorney General in the Report?
After an extensive, four-year review, the Office of the Attorney General only made one recommendation to the Archdiocese, which is to add laity to the Archdiocese’s published list of accused priests and brothers. The purpose of the list has been to shine a light on clergy sexual abuse and adding members of the laity to the list could take away from the power of transparency related to abusive priests and brothers, but the recommendation will be considered by the Archdiocese in consultation with its Independent Review Board.
Outside of this single recommendation, the Attorney General’s Report contains no suggestions for ways the Archdiocese could further improve how we screen or train personnel, report and investigate allegations, or respond pastorally to victims. The Office of the Attorney General recognizes that the implementation 20 years ago of the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People “significantly improve[d] the internal handling of reported child sex abuse.”
Is anyone credibly accused of abuse in the Attorney General’s Report currently employed by the Archdiocese of Baltimore?
No. Anyone, whether a member of the clergy or a lay person, who has been credibly accused of abuse has been removed from ministry and employment by the Archdiocese of Baltimore and is subject to criminal prosecution whenever possible at the discretion of law enforcement.
Are the failures cited in the Attorney General’s Report still occurring today?
The past failures to appropriately respond to allegations of abuse do not reflect the Church’s current and decades-long strong pastoral response and handling of allegations. Information on how the Archdiocese has been responding for the last three decades to stop the abuse of our most vulnerable can be found at https://www.archbalt.org/promise-protect-promote-healing/
Has the Archdiocese publicly disclosed the names of priests and brothers who have been accused of child sexual abuse?
Yes, in 2002, the Archdiocese of Baltimore became one of the first dioceses in the United States and the world to voluntarily publicly disclose the names of clergy who had been accused of abuse, dating back to the 1930s. It did so in a letter mailed to all registered households and publication in the diocesan newspaper and website. Since 2002, the Archdiocese has added names to the list as new information became available. The list is published on the Archdiocese’s website: List of Priests and Brothers Accused of Child Sexual Abuse – Archdiocese of Baltimore (archbalt.org)
Why did the Attorney General investigate and compile this report?
Following a similar investigation of the Catholic Church by the Pennsylvania Attorney General in 2018, the Maryland Office of the Attorney General began an investigation into child sexual abuse and the Archdiocese of Baltimore’s response to allegations of child sexual abuse over its history.
How did the Archdiocese cooperate with the investigation?
During the four-year investigation, the Archdiocese cooperated fully, including by providing hundreds of thousands of pages of requested documents and responding to numerous requests for information in conversations with investigators.
What measures are in place to ensure those serving in the Church are safe for ministry?
The Archdiocese has a zero-tolerance policy in place for anyone credibly accused of abuse, meaning he/she is immediately and permanently barred from all ministry. In addition, all employees, volunteers and youth are trained to detect and report suspected abuse, and all employees and volunteers undergo mandatory background checks and safe environment training. An Independent Review Board, which includes non-Catholic lay professionals, reviews the Church’s handling of all allegations of abuse, and audits are conducted to ensure compliance with all laws and policies governing the protection of children.
What steps does the Archdiocese take when someone is accused of abuse?
Any allegation of child abuse received by the Archdiocese is reported to law enforcement, and the alleged perpetrator is temporarily removed from ministry. The Archdiocese cooperates fully with law enforcement, taking care not to interfere with any investigation by law enforcement and conducting its own investigation of the allegation if law enforcement does not pursue criminal charges. Outreach is also extended to the victim. Once a determination of credibility has been made, the perpetrator’s removal is made permanent. Information is shared with the public through numerous methods of communication.
How does the Church notify the public when a minister of the Church, either clergy or laity, has been accused of abusing a child?
The Archdiocese utilizes a number of methods to inform the public about a credible allegation of abuse, including by posting the individual’s name on its list of accused clergy on the Archdiocesan website, notices in The Catholic Review, parish bulletins, direct emails, news media and in-person meetings.
If I was abused and want to receive assistance from the Archdiocese, what do I do?
If you or anyone you know has information concerning child abuse by a priest, employee or volunteer of the Archdiocese, you are urged to contact law enforcement and the Archdiocese’s Office of Child and Youth Protection at 410-547-5348.
How can the Archdiocese continue to support and employ any church leaders named in the Report?
The Report makes clear that the vast majority of abuse occurred prior to the reforms that began in the 1980s, improved throughout the 1990s and were well-established and followed by 2002. Some of the Church leaders named in the Report ushered in the initial waves of child protection policies. They began the work to create a change in Church culture, to remove abusers from ministry with children, to create new accountability and transparency standards, and to respond pastorally to survivors.
We know now that some of our early efforts were insufficient, but they were important starting points. We believe that leaders of the Archdiocese of Baltimore have, for more than three decades, worked consistently and in good faith to address the problem of child sexual abuse and respond appropriately to victim-survivors and put into place a culture that protects the most vulnerable. Some of these leaders dealt directly with numerous allegations at times when practices and protocols were evolving and being strengthened by them personally, and they added greatly to the Archdiocese’s efforts to uncover the truth and respond to victim-survivors and the community in a forthright way. We strive to protect every child and respond pastorally to every victim-survivor, just as we support those whose overall work in the area of child protection justifies our confidence in them as suitable for ministry.
Is the Archdiocese being transparent or covering things up?
The opposite of “cover up” is accountability and transparency. The Archdiocese significantly enhanced its accountability to the faithful and to the public at large beginning in 1993 by consistently reporting all allegations of child sexual abuse to law enforcement, even when the victim-survivor making the allegation was already an adult. The Archdiocese has further demonstrated transparency by publishing a list of priests and brothers accused of child sexual abuse on our website, a measure which is undertaken by virtually no other institution outside of the Catholic Church. The Archdiocese’s actions and decisions regarding each allegation of child sexual abuse have been scrutinized by an Independent Review Board for 30 years to ensure absolute accountability and avoid any possibility of “cover up.”
View the report by clicking here
