California diocese releases list of 34 priests ‘credibly accused’ of child sex abuse

A California diocese on Monday released a list of 34 priests who have been “credibly accused” of child sex abuse incidents dating back to the 1960s, according to CNN. 

The Diocese of San Bernardino posted the list, along with a letter encouraging anyone who may have been abused by the priests on the list to come forward. 

{mosads}”While we will always bear the mark of this scandal, our failure to protect children in earlier years has ultimately led us to a new awareness and an illumination of this terrible scourge on all of society,” Bishop Gerald Barnes wrote in the letter. 

Twenty-nine of the 34 priests on the list had already been publicly accused of child sex abuse, CNN reported.

Fourteen of the priests listed are dead, five were ousted from the priesthood, 14 were banned permanently from the Diocese of San Bernardino and one left the diocese 25 years ago; his whereabouts are unknown, according to CNN. 

The list was drawn from diocesan records, the diocese said in a statement. The diocese then used police and legal documents, as well as priests’ admissions and information gathered by diocesan personnel to determine the credibility of the allegations. 

Other California dioceses have released similar lists or announced their intentions to do so. Individual churches in San Bernardino are planning to host town hall meetings to discuss with the issue in the coming weeks.

The list comes on the heels of a bombshell Pennsylvania grand jury report, which documented more than 300 “predator priests” accused of abusing more than 1,000 children in the state since the 1940s. 

The grand jury report called out specific members of the Pennsylvania clergy for aiding in covering up the widespread instances of abuse.

Pope Francis on Sunday said the church must “be made ever more aware of its guilt, its mistakes, and abuses committed in the present and the past.”