Diocese of Greensburg will release list of clergy with ‘credible allegations’
When the state Supreme Court releases a grand jury report on sex abuse allegations within the church, the Diocese of Greensburg will release a list of clergy “with credible allegations against them.”
In a release issued Thursday morning, diocesan officials offered “a sincere and open apology to the survivors of sexual abuse and to all those impacted by the grievous failures of the Catholic Church.”
In the release, issued by spokesman Jerry Zufelt, officials said the diocese continues to support the public release of an impending grand jury report that examined allegations of abuse in six of the state’s dioceses, including Greensburg and Pittsburgh. The Dioceses of Erie, Harrisburg, Allentown and Scranton were also part of the investigation.
Fayette and Westmoreland counties are in the Greensburg Diocese; Washington and Greene counties are in the Pittsburgh Diocese. Officials in the Pittsburgh Diocese said over the weekend that they would release the names of priests and other church officials contained in the grand jury report once it is handed down.
The report is expected to be released no later than Aug. 14, and details allegations against 300 “predator priests” throughout the six dioceses.
“The facts must be made public if the church and survivors are ever to move past this horrific scourge. The same day the grand jury report is made public, we will release a list of clergy in our diocese with credible allegations against them on our website,” the release stated. “The Diocese applauds and supports all of the survivors of abuse who have come forward to report what happened to them. It doesn’t matter what the circumstances were or who the abusers were, the survivors’ scars and pain run deep.”
The release said procedures have evolved as the impact of abuse has become more widely understood. Policies on clergy sexual misconduct were established in 1985. Nationwide changes were adopted in 2002 following the “Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People.” This established any clergy member “credibly accused” of abusing a child be immediately removed, the release said.
“Things you may have read or heard do not reflect the reality of the Church we are today. We are dramatically different from the Church of the past,” Bishop Edward C. Malesic wrote in a letter to the church.
The same year, the diocese reviewed personnel files for every priest serving since 1951, the year the diocese was formed. Some of those priests were permanently banned from public ministry, the release said.
Every employee within the diocese is a mandated reporter, meaning they must report any suspected child abuse through ChildLine, a statewide child protective services program for child abuse referrals. All employees are trained to spot abuse. More than 15,000 people have been trained through the diocese over the past 15 years, the release said.
The latest update was made to the charter this summer, which ensured anyone whose duties within the Church involve contact with children complete background checks. Prior to the change, background checks were only required for those with “ongoing and unsupervised” contact. The Greensburg Diocese was already implementing the rules of the revision before its update, according to the release.
No one serving within the diocese was the subject of “a credible and substantiated allegation” of improper conduct, according to the release. Two independent reviews were completed since 2015. The release defined a “credible and substantiated” allegation as one that has been proven through admission, evidence or by a criminal investigation. A “credibly accused” clergyman is immediately removed pending investigation.
“While we are not proud of our past failures in this regard, we are proud of our Diocese’s ongoing and continually evolving response, our efforts to protect, and our determination to help survivors heal. Our parishioners can be confident of the processes and procedures we have in place today to protect children and report to law enforcement any abuse of which we become aware, no matter when it occurred,” the release said.
The release said the church remains committed to transparency and the removal of any barriers that would stop abuse victims from coming forward. Free counseling is available through the Church and offered through outside services.
The full Protection of children report is available on the diocese’s website, www.dioceseofgreensburg.org.
The diocese encouraged anyone who was a victim of abuse to come forward, and anyone who suspects abuse to call PA ChildLine at 1-800-932-0313.