U.S. research group adds more offenders to database of abusive Irish priests.

Irish response to list in last week has been ‘stunning’.

Global survivors & abuse experts will join news conference: ‘Did Pope’s visit meet expectations?’

WHEN

Monday, August 27, 10:30am

WHERE

Site of old Magdalene Laundry on Sean McDermott Street, Dublin
 
WHO

– A U.S. abuse expert who co-leads the research and abuse-tracking group BishopAccountability.org

– Five prominent clergy sex abuse survivors and experts, all of whom belong to ECA – Ending Clergy Abuse. Details below.
 
WHAT

The morning after Pope Francis’s visit, two groups that examine the Catholic abuse crisis will hold a news conference to assess what the papal visit meant.

The U.S.-based research group, BishopAccountability.org, will announce significant additions to its database of convicted Irish clergy.

Launched a week ago in Dublin, the database “struck a chord,” said co-director Anne Barrett Doyle.

“We were stunned and moved by the immediate response. Irish victims began sending us more names at once. It’s clear that the Irish see a need for a public registry of abusive clergy,” she said.

“Accountability – of both perpetrators and complicit church leaders – remains Ireland’s great unfinished task,” she said.

Barrett Doyle will discuss the new additions to the list.

Despite its expansion, however, the database still falls far short of a full accounting of offending clergy in Ireland. Barrett Doyle estimates that more than 1,200 accused priests remain unidentified to the public.

She will be joined by five leaders of the international group ECA – Ending Clergy Abuse.

The global group will grade the Pope’s visit. What if anything did he accomplish with his remarks on abuse and meeting with abuse survivors? What actions must he take now?

The group weighing in on these questions will include prominent survivors and experts from Ireland, Belgium, Germany and the United States.

WHO – DETAILS
Anne Barrett Doyle, co-director since 2003 of BishopAccountability.org, which tracks abuse cases worldwide and maintains the world’s largest public archive of church abuse files.

Anne will be joined by five leaders of ECA – Ending Clergy Abuse:

*Peter Isely of the U.S., clergy sex abuse survivor, founding member and former Midwest director (1992-2017) of Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP). Peter founded the world’s only in-patient hospital program for clergy sexual abuse survivors.

*Rev. Thomas P. Doyle of the U.S., a Dominican priest and canon lawyer, renowned whistleblower who warned U.S. bishops in 1985. Tom has served as expert witness in thousands of abuse cases worldwide.

*Mark Vincent Healy of Dublin, survivor of sexual abuse by two Irish priests, one of the first survivors to meet with Pope Francis.

*Lieve Halsberghe of Belgium, leading activist and researcher whose work has brought several abusers to justice.

*Matthias Katsch of Germany, a clergy sex abuse survivor, spokesperson for ECKIGER TISCH (Squared Table) and Member of the German Council of Survivors.

CONTACTS

FROM BISHOPACCOUNTABILITY.ORG

Anne Barrett Doyle, Co-Director, barrett.doyle@comcast.net
US mobile and WhatsApp: 001 781 439 5208

Terence McKiernan, President and Founder, and lead researcher of the U.S. database
mckiernan1@comcast.net
US mobile and WhatsApp: 508-479-9304

FROM ECA (ENDING CLERGY ABUSE)

Peter Isely
ECA Global Founding Member and Spokesperson, United States survivor.
peterisely@gmail.com, contactus@ecaglobal.org
+14144297259 (available GMT)

Lieve Halsberghe
ECA Assembly Member from Belgium
lievehalsberghe@gmail.com, contactus@ecaglobal.org

WHO WE ARE

Ending Clergy Abuse (ECA) is a worldwide organization of survivors and human rights activists who compel the Roman Catholic Church to end clergy abuse, especially child sexual abuse, in order to protect children and to seek justice for victims. ECA assembly members represent over 18 countries and 4 continents. https://ecaglobal.org – @ENDCLERGYABUSE – contactus@ecaglobal.org