LOUISVILLE, Ky. — A new report from the Archdiocese of Louisville released 34 names of priests that have been accused of sexually abusing children during their time working at the archdiocese.
"This is not a conclusion. This is a beginning," Archbishop Joseph Kurtz said. "It's the beginning of a process of transparency."
Out of the 34 priests listed, 12 of them are labeled as having been accused but that there is not enough information available to confirm the allegations. Twenty-two of the priests are considered to be credibly accused.
"Either criminal prosecution, a finding by the sexual abuse review board, an admission or some other corroborating data that was sufficient," Mark Miller, the independent investigator, said.
The release comes after a three-month study by Miller looking into the history of sex abuse in the Archdiocese of Louisville. It was commissioned by the archdiocese in response to national attention on sex abuse in the Catholic Church and local calls for action by survivors.
"Having a report and a list of credibly accused priests will provide validation for something that has been part of their life often for many decades," Kurtz said.
"It's very important that a victim-survivor knows there are others out there and that helps validate their story," Cal Pfeiffer, a survivor of sex abuse and a member of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP), said. "This isn't something I imagined or that I have a foggy memory on."
Among the report's findings was an increase in the number of reports made after 2002, which can be attributed to the increased publicity around the lawsuits against the Church around that time.
"Before 2002, there were few reports in the files," Miller said. "The response was limited to psychological assessments and treatment, and the focus appeared to be on protecting the priest and not on the victim."
But thanks to new policies and training enacted around that time, the investigator and the archbishop said the number of reports of sexual abuse has dropped. There are no pending reports involving any priests in active ministry today.
"I think this is a strong statement with the investment they put in, the time to document these, so it's a good move forward," Pfeiffer said.
Pfeiffer said there is still a lot more work to be done with this report, like including more priests and others employed by the archdiocese accused of sex abuse, but this is a good first step.
The report does not list any order priests accused of sex abuse because the archdiocese does not have those records, though officials said they have contact information for different orders for people looking for more information of those allegations.
The full report can be found here.