On Monday, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Providence released a list of roughly 50 clergy members who have been credibly accused of sexually abusing children. Providence Bishop Thomas Tobin made the announcement today. The list, dating back to 1950, includes priests, deacons and other church officials, both dead and alive. Although all the priests have been removed from the ministry, the list also included where each priest once worked. John Allen covers the Catholic Church for the online outlet Crux. He spoke with WGBH Radio’s Aaron Schachter about the release of the names. This transcript has been edited for clarity.
Aaron Schachter: So first of all, what sort of precedent is there for a diocese or archdiocese to release the names of accused priests like this?
John Allen: This has really been going on in the United States since 2002, 2003, during the first eruption of the clerical sexual abuse crisis. A good number of American dioceses at that time released at least partial lists of priests who had been accused of abuse. In the decade and a half or so since, certainly in the grip of this second wave of the abuse crisis in the United States, it has become virtually standard practice for dioceses to release this kind of information.
Schachter: Even when they include men who are still living?
Allen: Absolutely, because they realize that they live in a world in which it is really not up to them whether this information eventually becomes public. The only choice they have to make is whether they want to do it themselves, and therefore have some opportunity to shape how it's seen, or whether they want to wait for someone else to do it for them with no control whatsoever.
Schachter: We are of course all too familiar with clergy misconduct here in Massachusetts. Since widespread abuse and the cover-up of that abuse came to light in The Boston Globe's reporting almost 20 years ago, has this happened here in Boston? Has the archdiocese here done anything this comprehensive?
Allen: Well, the Archdiocese of Boston under Cardinal Sean O'Malley released a set of names some time ago. Now they were, however, only priests of the archdiocese. They excluded religious order priests. There was criticism of that. I know that Boston has generally been seen as one of the pace setters on this issue.
Schachter: So the church is being more transparent with these lists. Are you satisfied that the problem itself is diminishing?
Allen: All the available statistical evidence would suggest that the number of reports of new cases of abuse coming in today are significantly reduced as compared to say 40, 50, 60 years ago. And when those cases do occur, in general, they are reported to civil authorities, the priest is removed from ministry, and in most cases eventually laicized. So I think most observers here would say that the church has done a creditable job in trying to enforce accountability for abuse when it happens.
The problem is that it has not delivered similar accountability for the cover-up. And I think the report card here would be that while the church in the United States has taken significant strides towards providing accountability for the crime, it is a work in progress in terms of the cover-up. I mean, the U.S. bishops just met last month to adopt new protocols to provide that kind of accountability. We have not yet seen them work in practice, and until that happens, and people are convinced that it's meaningful, I think most people who are engaged in the discussion will say that the work is not yet finished.
