The decision is part of an effort to aid a new investigation into abuse claims at St. Joseph’s, which closed in 1974. It comes as the bishop has repeatedly pledged to cooperate with a law enforcement task force overseeing the inquiry.
“They are now free to tell the story of what happened to them as they see fit,” Coyne said in a prepared statement.
Some former residents of the Burlington orphanage sued the diocese in the 1990s and settled their cases. Coyne said that since 2002, the diocese has not asked survivors to sign NDAs as part of settlements.
“It is my hope that this past action as well as the present one will allow the truth of what happened to survivors and their families to be heard,” Coyne said. “I pledge to you, as the bishop of Burlington, that I will do everything that I can to make sure this never happens again and to work for healing and reconciliation with those who were so badly abused by clergy.”
The Burlington Free Press reported earlier this week that Coyne was considering the move.
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Good, that should have been done years ago.
“Gosh! It’s a real shame that people are bringing up that whole systemic-child abuse stuff again. Can’t people just forget about the past?” – paraphrasing him from the Freeps article.
A few years ago I found out that in Catholic doctrine the clergy are viewed as higher and closer to God than the laity. (Laity means common shlubs like you and me.) Not so long ago all masses were given in Latin, which was a deliberate way for the clergy to appear all-knowing, better than the average believer. What a crock, of course. These men–the nuns aren’t much better if they are better–have lorded it over and tithed innocent believers for centuries. They have used the good faith of people to enrich themselves and abuse children. The whole rotten edifice of the Catholic church–including its tax exempt status–should come crashing to the ground. Sorry, but how many get out of jail free cards are we to give them? Enough is enough.
A lot of the priests and nuns are alcoholics
“A lot of the priests and nuns are alcoholics”
Well thank goodness they aren’t trying to get on the Supreme Court !
“A lot of the priests and nuns are alcoholics.”
1. Thanks for posting this information that is highly relevant to the issue at hand???
2. Thanks for sourcing your information.
3. What does “a lot” mean? Is that a recognized statistical term? Is “a lot” an amount that is higher than the U.S. population at large? Is it higher than clergy in other religions?
Really, keep up the good work here.