Several prominent members of an independent board charged with reviewing cases of Roman Catholic priests accused of sexual abuse sent a scathing letter to Seattle Archbishop Alexander Brunett yesterday, attacking him on several key points. Among their chief concerns:
- That the archbishop may be misleading the public by suggesting the problem of sexually abusive priests is over.
- That there's no evidence Brunett has put safeguards they recommended in place.
- That Brunett challenged their authority to write a report critical of church policies, that he tried to get them to accept a softened version of the report, and that he published the original version in October only after board members threatened to resign.
"We believe we had no alternative but to make sure the Catholic community and the community at large knew how the events unfolded," said Terrence Carroll, a retired King County Superior Court judge who heads the board.
Posted by Editor at December 22, 2004 03:12 PM