Bishop Patrick J. McGrath and Coadjutor Bishop Oscar Cantú, announced on April 2 the addition of one name to the Diocese of San Jose’s original Clergy Abuse Disclosure List.
In the spirit of accountability and transparency, the Diocese has also added two new sections to its Disclosure List.
The first new section includes Non-Diocesan Clergy who ministered within the Diocese of San Jose’s territory (Santa Clara County) and received a credible allegation of sexual abuse of children, which occurred elsewhere or in a non-Diocesan institution or ministry in Santa Clara County.
The other new section lists all non-Diocesan clergy who ever resided at a religious order’s seminary, retreat house or retirement home, located within Santa Clara County and have received a credible allegation of sexual abuse of children, which occurred elsewhere. These allegations in both of the new sections were not investigated by the Diocese of San Jose, but have been confirmed by the cleric’s Religious Order, Arch/diocese, or civil authorities.
“With this updated list, the Diocese acknowledges and expresses our sorrow over the failings of the past and the damage done,” said Bishop McGrath. “I hope that this list demonstrates our commitment to do everything in the Diocese of San Jose’s power to confront the evil of clergy sexual abuse, to support and help victims, and to prevent abuse from happening in the future.”
These additional names are the result of recent disclosures by other arch/dioceses and religious orders as well as an independent review of our clergy files that was undertaken by Kinsale Management Consulting beginning in November 2018.
Kinsale’s exhaustive review of over 1,000 files on clergy and religious who have served in a Diocese of San Jose parish or diocesan ministry has now been completed. Overall Kinsale spent more than 700 hours reviewing those files. For more information, including a letter from Kinsale summarizing their work can be found on our Diocesan website — https://www.dsj.org/protecting-gods-children/clergy-disclosure-list.
“I once again ask for your prayers for all the victims of sexual abuse from whatever source, but in particular those who have been abused by a priest, deacon or another representative of the Church,” said Bishop McGrath.
Bishop McGrath renewed his call for other victims/survivors to come forward. Anyone who has been a victim of sexual abuse by anyone working on behalf of the Church is urged to contact civil authorities (police department or sheriff’s office) and then to contact the Office for the Protection of Children and Vulnerable Adults at (408) 983-0113 or opcva.ethicspoint.com.
Several religious orders and arch/dioceses are currently in the process of conducting their external review with the goal of publishing their lists sometime in the future. When religious orders or other dioceses publish or update their lists or credible allegations are confirmed by the Diocese of San Jose, the Diocese will update its list accordingly.