‘Church should have shared this long ago’: Texas bishops release names of 300 US clergy accused of abuse
- Most of the Texas priests were dead, had been removed from the clergy, or both, according to the state’s diocese
- It came on the same day that a law firm said that more than 80 priests sexually abused minors in a California diocese over a period of decades
Catholic officials in the US state of Texas on Thursday released the names of around 300 clergy who have been accused of sexual abuse dating back 70 years.
Most of the Texas priests were dead, had been removed from the clergy, or both, according to the state’s dioceses.
Two priests in the Houston area were facing recent allegations, and the San Antonio diocese said one unnamed living priest was the subject of an ongoing investigation.
“The Bishops of Texas have decided to release the names of these priests at this time because it is right and just and to offer healing and hope to those who have suffered,” Cardinal Daniel DiNardo of the Galveston-Houston diocese said in a statement.
The 15 dioceses of the sprawling state had promised in October to release names of clergy “credibly accused” of sexually abusing minors.