Dec. 17 (UPI) — Jesuit orders separately released lists Monday of 94 clergy from the Maryland area and the Midwest “credibly accused” of sexually abusing children since the 1950s.
More than 230 Jesuits have been credibly accused of sexually abusing a minor in the United States since the 1950s in these two lists as well as two others released on Dec. 7 from the West and Central/Southern regions. The Northeast plans to release its list of accused clergy on Jan. 15.
The Maryland Province of the Society of Jesus released a list of 29 priests and others from Maryland, South Carolina, North Carolina, Georgia, Virginia, West Virginia, southern New Jersey, Pennsylvania and the District of Columbia. The province said most of those named are dead.
The Midwest province listed 65 names, including 22 who are alive. The states are Illinois, Wisconsin, Indiana, Michigan, Wyoming, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Iowa, Minnesota, Kentucky and Ohio.
Some of the Jesuit priests were not removed from ministry until well after 2002, when U.S. Catholic bishops committed to remove abusive priests after the Boston Globe reported on abuse in the church.
In 2003, Catholic groups instituted a “zero tolerance” policy in which priests accused of abuse are immediately removed from ministry until the accusation is investigated.
The Jesuits paid $166.1 million to 470 victims in 2011 who were sexually and psychologically abused as children from the 1940s to the 1990s.
The Jesuits are separate from the Catholic dioceses. Bishops in 36 of the 197 dioceses in the United States have released lists of credibly accused clergy since August. It came after a Pennsylvania grand jury report accused Catholic leaders of allowng the abuse of more than 1,000 victims by more than 300 clergy.
Pope Francis, the first Jesuit pontiff, has convened a meeting of top Catholic bishops from around the world Feb. 21-24 in Rome to address the crisis.
The Maryland area said its list included men who at some point worked, studied or served in the eight states and the District of Columbia.
Gonzaga College High School in D.C. hosted four of the accused priests.
Colleges included St. Joseph’s University in Philadelphia, the University of Scranton in Pennsylvania, Wake Forest University in North Carolina.
“We are deeply sorry for the harm we have caused to victims and their families,” wrote the Rev. Robert M. Hussey, the leader of the Maryland Province Jesuits, in a letter released with the list of names and accusations. “We also apologize for participating in the harm that abuse has done to our Church, a Church that we love and that preaches God’s care for all, especially the most vulnerable among us.”
The Maryland province said none of them are serving in the ministry now. Some of the priests the Jesuits list live in a “restricted environment” without access to minors.
The release did not include when the crimes were first reported to Jesuit leaders. The majority of the priests already have been accused publicly of sexual abuse.
The last known sexual abuse of a child occurred in 2002, according to the Maryland Jesuits’ release.
“The Maryland Jesuits seem to be in the forefront of working with due diligence in light of everything coming out over the last few years to make sure this doesn’t happen again in their order,” attorney Sheldon Jacobs, who has represented sexual abuse victims who have settled with the Maryland Jesuits, said to The Baltimore Sun. “Other dioceses are dragging their feet to get into the 21st century,” he said.
More than 1,700 Jesuits have belonged to the Maryland province since 1950 and more than 4,000 in the Midwest province since 1955.
“The Midwest Jesuits take this step in the spirit of transparency and reconciliation,” the Rev. Brian G. Paulson, provincial of the Jesuits’ Midwestern province, said in a statement. “As we look back at our history, the failures of the Society of Jesus and the church to protect those entrusted to its care fill our hearts with outrage, sorrow and shame.”
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