Bishops’ Names to Be Removed From Diocese Buildings for Not Protecting Kids From Sex Abuse

A Catholic bishop ordered the names of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, diocese bishops who preceded him since the 1940s be removed from all diocesan properties, since the bishops didn’t protect children from sexual abuse, PennLive reported.

Ronald Gainer, the bishop of the Harrisburg diocese, also released the names of 71 individuals accused of child sex crimes. Of the names listed, 37 were priests in the Harrisburg diocese, three were diocese deacons, six were diocese seminarians, nine were clergy from other dioceses, and 16 were from religious communities, WHTM-TV reported. . .

One official with Villanova University — a Catholic college in the Philadelphia area — told the outlet that Gainer’s decision was “gutsy.”

“I commend him for stepping forward and showing that the responsibility, the real problem lies with church leadership,” Charles Zech, director of the school’s Center for Church Management and Business Ethics, told PennLive.

He added to the outlet that “you hear it here and there when someone has been found to not have lived the perfect life, but to remove all of the names is unprecedented. I applaud him for recognizing that they all have been culpable.” (Read more from “Bishops’ Names to Be Removed From Diocese Buildings for Not Protecting Kids From Sex Abuse” HERE)

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