(Newser)
–
Nearly a decade after a sexual abuse scandal erupted in the Archdiocese of Boston, Cardinal Sean O'Malley has released a list of 159 clerics accused of abusing children. The list was compiled using files that go back as far as 70 years, but the archdiocese has come under fire for omitting the names of 91 other priests, most of whom are now deceased, the Boston Globe reports. The names of priests from religious orders and other dioceses accused of molesting Boston-area children were also omitted.
"Having met with hundreds of survivors, I know firsthand the scars you carry. And I carry with me every day the pain of the church's failures," O'Malley said in a statement. The head of an abuse survivors group called the decision to omit many names "shameless hairsplitting" that could endanger children. "This is about safeguarding innocent kids, comforting wounded adults and exposing unhealthy secrecy,” she said. “It’s not about which individual Catholic official signs which individual Catholic predator’s paycheck."
