Story Archives of 'Clergy Sexual Abuse'

The New Hampshire Attorney General's office has released files that publicly identify 26 clergymen accused of sexual abuse.

The list comes after the close of the state's final audit of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Manchester. During that audit, the Church had agreed to report any other accusations to the Attorney General's office and remove those accused from their jobs.

Will Delker is a Senior Assistant Attorney General. He describes the process to NHPR's Mark Bevis.

State prosecutors and the Diocese of Manchester were before a Hillsborough County Superior Court Judge Yesterday. They argued the terms of the Diocese's 2002 settlement agreement over past sexual abuse by state Priests.

The National Review Board criticized Catholic bishops for failing to stop widespread clergy sex abuse over the past five decades. The watchdog panel of prominent lay leaders said the bishops? failure to stop the abuse was ?shameful to the church?. Catholic activists in New Hampshire say they?re still worried that the leadership of the Manchester Diocese isn?t taking responsibility for its role. New Hampshire Public Radio?s Raquel Maria Dillon reports.

We talk with New Hampshire Catholics one day after the installation of Boston's new Archbishop Sean O'Malley. We'll ask how they're coping, how they are healing, and if they are moving on from the sexual abuse crisis over one year ago. Laura's guests are Pat Ford, parishioner, lector, and eucharistic minister at St. Theresa's Church in Rye and Anne Coughlin, member of NH Catholics for Moral Leadership. We'll also hear from Kathryn Marchocki, staff reporter for the Union Leader, and Ann Riggs, Professor of Religious Studies at Rivier College in Nashua.

NH Catholics for Moral Leadership (http://www.nhcatholics.org) is calling for the leaders of the Manchester Diocese to step down because of their handling of clergy sexual abuse cases. As NHPR’s Raquel Maria Dillon reports, this new effort is highly focused on getting Bishop John McCormack and Bishop Francis Christian to resign.