“Nearly every other California diocese has released an official list of known abusive clergy. It’s time to name your predators,” say advocates
California Catholic officials attempted but failed to stop survivors’ lawsuits
What
Today, at a sidewalk news conference, survivors, advocates, and attorneys from Jeff Anderson & Associates will:
- Disclose that a California bishop recently lost his bid to block child abuse survivors from filing civil lawsuits.
- Reveal a mobile billboard challenging San Francisco’s Archbishop on his handling of pedophile priests.
- Call on San Francisco church officials to publicly release the names, photos, and whereabouts of all credibly accused clerics, and all California bishops to let survivors ‘have their day in court’ and launch no more legal maneuvers against such survivors and their lawsuits.
- A Spanish-speaking attorney will translate.
When
Thursday, June 10, 2021 – 11:00 AM PST
Where
Outside of Cathedral of Saint Mary of the Assumption
1111 Gough St.
San Francisco, CA 94109
Who
A Bay Area whistleblower priest, clergy sex abuse survivors, and prominent attorneys who have filed hundreds of lawsuits against California Catholic officials and entities.
Why
Noted for his staunch conservatism, obstinacy in the face of survivors’ pleas for acknowledgment and accountability, and general clericalism, San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore J. Cordileone has firmly resisted publicly releasing an official list of clergy known to be credibly accused of child sexual abuse. Because of Archbishop Cordileone’s unwillingness to provide transparency, a digital mobile billboard will be at the event imploring Archbishop Cordileone to release the names of all credibly accused clergy in the Archdiocese of San Francisco.
The vast majority of US bishops have posted on church websites the names of and often some details about proven, admitted, and credibly accused predatory clerics. Unfortunately, the Archdiocese of San Francisco is one of sixteen Catholic Dioceses in the United States and two in California, yet to publish a list of credibly accused clergy. Many consider this long-overdue step to be the bare minimum church officials should do to protect the vulnerable and heal the wounded.
“As long as the names of known perpetrators are kept secret, the children of San Francisco remain in immediate peril,” said attorney and advocate Jeff Anderson. “Every day he chooses secrecy over accountability runs the risk of another child suffering the same horrors and shame as those carried by hundreds of adult survivors today.”
Unwilling to wait for the Archbishop to take up the mantle of accountability, Jeff Anderson & Associates released their own report based on publicly available information in 2018. The report listed more than 200 accused clergy across the three dioceses of the Bay Area: San Francisco, Oakland, and San Jose.
In January 2021, California Roman Catholic Bishops filed motions in southern and northern superior courts asking judges to rule the California Child Victims Act (AB 218) as unconstitutional. In April 2021, Alameda Superior Court Judge Winifred Y. Smith ruled that the California Child Victims Act was not only constitutional but provided a detailed 51-page opinion explaining her analysis of the law. This allowed survivors to bring actions to uncover the Bishop’s secrets.
Live Stream
The press conference will also be live-streamed via Facebook.
Media Note
Video files will be available for download following the conclusion of the event for use by broadcast and digital media. Submit requests to media@andersonadvocates.com.
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