The Valley Catholic November 6, 2018 | Página 3

tvc.dsj.org | November 6, 2018 IN THE DIOCESE 3 Statement from the Diocese of San Jose on the Jeff Anderson & Associates Report (Editor’s Note: On October 23, the law firm of Jeff Anderson & Associates released the names of Catholic priests in the Archdiocese of San Francisco and the Dioceses of Oakland and San Jose accused of child sexual abuse. That list included 18 additional names for the Diocese of San Jose, which had released its initial list on October 24. Here is the statement released by the Diocese of San Jose refuting the additional names). It is heart-breaking to see the list of so many who have betrayed and abused innocent children in the hor- rific ways that are described in the report compiled from public sources and released by Anderson & Associ- ates. The Diocese of San Jose remains resolute in our commitment to pro- vide healing and reconciliation for the victims/survivors. This will allow us to continue the process of restoring trust that has been painfully eroded by those in positions of leadership and by being accountable and trans- parent for what has happened in the past in the Diocese of San Jose. The majority of the discrepancy between the Anderson & Associates report and the Diocese of San Jose report can be attributed to religious order priests who were in Santa Clara County, but were not assigned by the bishop of San Jose or, in earlier years, by the Archbishop of San Francisco. They were assigned by their religious superiors or were subject to other superiors, such as the Ukrainian Eparchy, the Military Archdiocese (which cares for military posts, in- cluding VA hospitals) or the Diocese of Monterey. As such, the Diocese of San Jose has no personnel files for those men. Their religious orders or dioceses would have handled any report and investigation of the al- legations against them and placed restrictions on their ministry if the allegations were found to be credible. See below for details on each of 18 additional names. A s i s s t at e d i n FAQ#10 (s e e www.dsj.org/disclosurelist): “Allegations of sexual abuse of children by religious order priests who served or resided at schools and other institutions operated not by the Diocese but by their religious order in Santa Clara County were investi- gated by the religious order, to which the priest belonged. In these cases, without their personnel files, we do not know whether the allegations were deemed credible and cannot responsibly release their names. The names of those clerics with credible allegations will need to be reported by t he appropr iate i n st it ut ion s. Regardless, the Diocese’ Office for Protection of Children and Vulner- able Adults offers pastoral care to all victims/survivors of sexual abuse by clergy.” Definitions of a Religious Priest and a Diocesan Priest (according to the Official Catholic Dictionary): “Religious priests are those who are professed members of a religious order, or institute. Religious clergy live according to the rule of their re- spective orders. Diocesan, or secular priests, are under the direction of the local bishop.” Here are specific reasons why the additional names compiled by Anderson & Associates from media reports, BishopAccountability.org, dioceses’ public statements, and other public sources were not in- cluded on the Diocese of San Jose’s disclosure list. • Eleven of the names are mem- bers of the Jesuit religious order and they were not employed at or assigned to a diocesan or parish min- istry by the Bishop of San Jose. They were assigned to the Jesuit-owned and operated institutions within Santa Clara County: Bellarmine Col- lege Preparatory, Santa Clara Univer- sity, the Jesuit Retreat Center in Los Altos, or Sacred Heart Jesuit Center in Los Gatos. • Edward Thomas Burke, S.J. – a Jesuit priest. Not assigned by the Bishop of San Jose. • Charles Connor, S.J. – a Jesuit brother. Not assigned by the Bishop of San Jose. • Raymond Devlin, S.J. – a Jesuit priest. Not assigned by the Bishop of San Jose. • Hal Ellis, S.J. – a Jesuit brother. Not assigned by the Bishop of San Jose. • Wi l l ia m Fa rr i ng ton, S.J. – a Jesuit brother. Not assigned by the Bishop of San Jose. • Jerold Linder, S.J. – a Jesuit priest. Not assigned by the Bishop of San Jose. • John Rodriguez Moniz, S.J. – a Jesuit brother. Not assigned by the Bishop of San Jose. • Carlton Whitten, S.J. – a Jesuit priest. Not assigned by the Bish- op of San Jose. • Edward F. Beutner, S.J. – a Jesuit priest. Not assigned by the Bishop of San Jose. • John Gallen, S.J. – a Jesuit priest. Not assigned by the Bishop of San Jose. • James F. Kuntz, S.J. – a Jesuit priest. Not assigned by the Bishop of San Jose. • Paul Valdez was not assigned by the Bishop of San Jose to a parish or diocesan ministry. Christ Child Parish, although it has a Los Gatos mailing address, is in Santa Cruz County, which is part of the Diocese of Monterey. • Jo s eph M i k u l ic h, O.F.M., a Franciscan priest, was not assigned by the Bishop of San Jose to a parish or diocesan ministry. Assumption of Mary Croatian Mission is owned by the Croatian Franciscans. He was sent there for retirement by the Fran- ciscans in Croatia. • Stephen Muth, a priest of the Ukrainian Eparchy of Saint Nicholas (Byzantine Rite), was not assigned by the Roman Catholic Bishop of San Jose to a parish or diocesan ministry. St. Volodymyr Ukrainian Catholic Center is owned and operated by the Ukrainian Eparchy of Saint Nicholas. • William Scanlan was not as- signed by the Bishop of San Jose to a parish or diocesan ministry. As docu- mented in the 12/17/02 San Jose Mer- cury News article, the Archdiocese of San Francisco received a positive rec- ommendation from the Archdiocese of Boston, and the Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA, assigned Scanlan to the Veteran’s Adminis- tration Hospital in Menlo Park as a Chaplain from 1998 to 2002. • For Milton Eggerling, James T. Monaghan, S.J. and Stephen Emmett Speciale, S.J., each of whom had Dio- cese of San Jose parish assignments, the alleged incidents occurred, and reports of abuse were made, in other jurisdictions and were not shared with the Diocese of San Jose. The Diocese of San Jose is currently fol- lowing up with those jurisdictions (the Diocese of Austin and the Jesuit West Province) to get more informa- tion on these reports to determine next steps. To continue with the process of transparency, accountability, and healing, the Diocese of San Jose has hired former FBI Executive Assistant Director, Dr. Kathleen McChesney, and her firm, Kinsale Management Consulting. Dr. McChesney and her team will oversee an in-depth inde- pendent review of the personnel and other files pertaining to the sexual abuse of children committed by any cleric appointed by the Bishop of San Jose or, in the years before our found- ing in 1981, by the Archbishop of San Francisco. As a result of the examina- tion, there may be additional offend- ers identified. If so, their names will then be added to this list by the end of the year. We encourage any victims/survi- vors of abuse by clergy, who have not previously come forward, to do so by contacting the local law enforcement – police department or sheriff’s office – and then to make a report to our Office for the Protection of Children at (408) 983-0113 or opcva.ethicspoint. com. The identities of victims are always kept confidential. New reports and names will be added to the list as they are deemed credible. Statement on October 28 from the Diocese of San Jose Regarding the Pittsburgh Synagogue Shooting Bishop McGrath, along with Bishop Cantú, is deeply sadden by the tragic shooting Saturday morning at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh, Pa., which killed 11 people. Citing the statement by Cardinal Daniel N. DiNardo of Galveston- Houston and President of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops call- ing for prayer and action to put an end to violence, the San Jose Bishops agree “that violence as a response to political, racial or religious differences will not be tolerated and must be con- fronted with all possible effort.” As our Holy Father Pope Francis said a day after the shooting “all of us are wounded by this inhuman act of violence. The Pope prayed for God “to help us to extinguish the flames of hatred that develop in our societies.” Bishops McGrath and Cantú ask that you continue to keep in your prayers the victims of this tragic c r i me - a nd t hei r fa m i l ies. “We stand with our Jewish brothers and sisters,” they said, “in this moment of loss and sadness.”