The 91 names that were not released by the cardinal included 62 dead priests for whom allegations were not fully investigated and whose names had not been made public earlier; 22 priests against whom allegations could not be substantiated; four priests or former priests not in active ministry for whom a preliminary investigation has not been completed; and three who had already been laicized or dismissed before they were accused and whose names were not made public previously.
Cardinal O'Malley also said he would not release the names of religious-order priests or those from other dioceses who had been accused of abuse while working in the Boston Archdiocese because other church officials were responsible for following up on accusations of misconduct against those priests.
"I hope that other dioceses and religious orders will review our new policy and consider making similar information available to the public to the extent they have not already done so," he said.
The cardinal said he had attempted to "balance appropriately several considerations" in drawing up the revised policy.
Cardinal names Boston clergy accused of abuse
By Catholic News ServiceBOSTON - Cardinal Sean O’Malley of Boston has released the names of 159 of the 250 Boston archdiocesan priests or deacons accused of sexually abusing a minor, including 22 whose cases have not been resolved canonically.
In a six-page letter to the people of his archdiocese Aug. 25, the cardinal said the decision represented “one more step forward in our efforts to assume responsibility for our past failures and reaffirm our commitment to assure that our present-day standards protect the children of our community.”
The list of names is published at www.bostoncatholic.org.
Cardinal O'Malley also released a separate list of Boston archdiocesan priests who had been publicly accused of sexual abuse where the allegations have been found unsubstantiated by the archdiocesan Review Board or who were acquitted of charges in a canonical process.
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