The Archdiocese of St. Louis is being sued by roughly sixty victims, for allegedly covering up and enabling decades of abuse while they were minors.
David Clohessy the Missouri Director of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, wants the archbishop to disclose the names of the nearly four dozen priests, nuns, lay men and lay women accused of the abuse.
“We believe in our heart of hearts that it’s not a lack of information or filing or time, it’s a lack of will,” he said. “It’s a lack of courage.”
Clohessy speculated that the information will turn up through lengthy court battles, voluntary disclosures of other victims and witnesses, as well as former church staff. He hailed the alleged victims as heroes.
“From the lawsuit, if he told anyone about what had happened, the priest would tell the boy’s parents what he shared during confession,” said Clohessy. “Two priests told a boy that, since he performed sexual acts for the third priest, he should perform sexual acts with them, too.”
Clohessy alleges that Catholic officials are “putting their comfort, careers and reputations above the safety of kids, the healing of victims and their purported pledges of ‘transparency.’”
Clohessy hopes other victims who hear about this lawsuit feel they, too, can share their story.
“We rarely, rarely aware of just how burdensome it is to quietly keep this horrible secret because we’ve been doing it for decades,” he said.
Five lawsuits have been filed in the city and county of St. Louis, Jefferson, Franklin, and St. Charles counties.
The Archdiocese of St. Louis covers the city and county of St. Louis, as well as Franklin, Jefferson, Lincoln, Perry, St. Charles, St. Francois, Ste. Genevieve, Warren, and Washington Counties.
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KMOX Radio in St. Louis contributed to this report.
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