Survivors of abuse in Archdiocese of Baltimore call for release of redacted names
BALTIMORE -- Members of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, known as SNAP, called for transparency from the Archdiocese of Baltimore after the release of the Maryland Attorney General's scathing report into abuses within the church.
The Maryland Attorney General on Tuesday released the 456-page investigation that details 158 clergy, teachers, seminarians and deacons within the Archdiocese of Baltimore who allegedly assaulted more than 600 children going back to the 1940s.
The report also exposed many cases where members of the church and law enforcement colluded to protect priests and others within the Catholic church.
The report was released with court-ordered redactions, which include the anonymization of 60 individuals referenced in the report by eliminating specific references, as well as the names and identifying information of 37 more individuals.
Survivors of abuse at the hands of the church called those individuals perpetrators, and called on the archdiocese to publicize the identifying information and names.
"We not only need to have the names. We need to know the assignment records of every one of those priests," Dave Lorenz, the director of SNAP in Maryland, said. "Publish the names of the predators in the attorney general's report that are not on our list, including all the redacted names. They are still hiding behind those redactions. Provide the entire assignment history of each predator on the list and the last known status. Where did you know they were? What was the last thing you knew about them?"
Some of the revelations in the attorney general's report were redacted by court order.
Lorenz noted the significance of this being Good Friday—one of the most sacred days of the year for Christians. "If you want to be a good Catholic, a responsible Catholic, I would say when you go to church today instead of reading your prayer book, I would urge you to read the report that came out from the attorney general."
Survivors of abuse gathered Friday in front of Catholic Center in Baltimore, an administrative office for the archdiocese. The organization is demanding that the archdiocese "provides work and assignment history for each of the perps listed in the report, their last known location as well as whether they know if the perp is still living."
Teresa Lancaster said she endured abuse at the hands of Father Joseph Maskell, a story made famous internationally in The Keepers documentary.
She learned in the newly-released report that Father Maskell was first reported in 1966. Her abuse happened 4 years later.
"I really want to applaud the Attorney General's Office for releasing the report, for doing something, she said. "It is one organization that has finally stood with survivors. I applaud that, but remember, this is the tip of the iceberg. There are many more victims out there. For every one victim that comes forward, you can count at least ten that do not. We need to get the names out of the predators."
Lancaster spoke with WJZ's Mike Hellgren this week in the wake of the report.
"When you see those redactions, what is in your heart?" Hellgren asked her.
"It's another hit. It's just another dagger," Lancaster said.
Archbishop William Lori apologized in a statement and said the abuses are "shocking and soul-searing" and acknowledged that "these evil acts did occur."
He also wrote the church has undergone "radical changes" to make sure it does not happen again.
"It's crazy. Let him read my deposition in 1994. I told them them what Maskell did in gory detail. Why is he shocked? Why is anybody shocked?" Lancaster told Hellgren outside the church leadership offices on Friday.
Survivors also want the church to hold public question and answer sessions about the scandal and promise not to challenge the Child Victims Act, a new Maryland law that will drop the statute of limitations on victims' civil lawsuits. The governor is expected to sign it next Tuesday.
"The abuse of children will not be tolerated no matter how powerful the source of that abuse thinks they are. We as survivors have power and we're standing up. I want to say to Archbishop Lori, 'We are here now, and we're not going anywhere,'" said Frank Schindler who said he was abused by priests in New York and joined in solidarity with Maryland victims.
Attorney General Anthony Brown urges victims to report past abuse by members of the clergy by calling his office at 410-576-6312 or emailing report@oag.state.md.us.
You can read the entire report here.
