For archdiocese, full disclosure is long overdue

Public confession can be good for the soul, as well as essential for rebuilding trust in institutions tarnished by years of evasion and half-truths. For the Archdiocese of Santa Fe, a full and public confession naming which of its priests have been credibly accused of sexually molesting children is overdue.

Last week, reporter Andrew Oxford wrote at length describing what other Catholic dioceses around the nation have done to help victims overcome trauma caused by sexual abuse. It is clear that the Archdiocese of Santa Fe has more work to do to help ease the pain of the many victims of religious leaders.

New Mexico, long a center of Catholicism in the Southwest, was at the heart of pedophile priest scandals that hit the U.S. church. Over the past several decades, the faithful learned that trusted bishops failed in their duty to protect children.

Instead, church leaders hid child molesters, moving the accused men from church to church, putting more children at risk. When parents came to report the abuse, they were shunted aside. The focus, it seemed, was always the reputation of the Catholic Church rather than the safety of children. No public scandals, in other words, no matter the private evil that was allowed to continue.

Yes, in the Archdiocese of Santa Fe there have been sincere public apologies, payments to victims and the expulsion of molesters. Yes, the archdiocese has improved training for all who come in contact with children to raise awareness of the dangers of sexual abuse. Most importantly, the church today maintains a strict no tolerance policy in matters of sexual misconduct.

What is missing, however, is a full and public accounting of the priests and other adults credibly accused of sexually abusing children. The Diocese of Gallup published such a list in 2014, naming 30 priests and one teacher found to have well-founded accusations against them. For survivors of abuse, that public witness meant that, finally, they were believed. It is allowing greater healing for the people who had been wronged.

More than two dozen other dioceses around the country have at least identified by name priests who church officials say were credibly accused of sexual abuse, just as happened in Gallup. Some have done even more, publishing internal documents to provide greater insight as to how churches approached this decades-long scandal.

The Archdiocese of Santa Fe has particular reason to share what it knows.

New Mexico has a special place in the nationwide scandal of pedophile priests. It was here, in Jemez Springs, that many priests were sent for treatment at the Servants of the Paraclete. At the time, many believed — naively, perhaps — that child molesters could be cured.

Priests from around the country accused of sexually abusing children came to the peaceful mountains of Northern New Mexico for counseling, treatment and prayer. Many of them stayed on, attracted by the beauty around them. Assigned to area parishes, these priests again molested, this time damaging children in New Mexico.

The scandal burst into the open in the early 1990s. Lawsuits were filed. Archbishop Michael Sheehan was brought in to clean up the mess and restore trust in the institutional church. For the most part, Sheehan did the job. He spoke frankly about what had happened, apologized to and met with victims, and worked tirelessly to make sure that such evil would never happen again. The Archdiocese of Santa Fe, unlike Gallup, avoided bankruptcy. In 2004, Sheehan wrote parishioners to tell them that 44 priests and two deacons were credibly accused of sexual abuse in the previous five decades. Few details accompanied that letter, however.

The lingering effects of the scandal remain. In recent years, more lawsuits have been filed by adults who say they were molested as children. Sheehan has reached retirement age, and current Archbishop John C. Wester is in charge.

The bottom line is simple. If other dioceses across the country can share what they know about sexual abusers with parishioners and victims, so can the Archdiocese of Santa Fe. The best way to prevent scandals from reoccurring is for leaders of institutions to be honest with the people they serve.

Litigation, like death and taxes, likely always will be with us. An attorney for alleged victims was in court Friday asking for certain files to be released by the archdiocese. The lawsuits and the suffering of victims will not vanish any time soon. That’s no excuse for hiding the truth. What’s more, it should not take an action of the court to persuade a Christian church to do what is compassionate, what is just and what best serves victims.