Regarding the Jan. 21 editorial “Perpetuating secrecy”:
Scrutiny of our past is warranted. When the objective is to protect a child, half-measures are not acceptable.
The Archdiocese of Baltimore described in statements by the former Maryland attorney general is not the archdiocese we are today. Then-Attorney General Brian E. Frosh (D) acknowledged this when he stated that the coverup was over and for at least two decades the church has followed the law and reported child sexual abuse when it is reported to us.
The church has no interest in concealing the identity of predators. The names of those credibly accused are publicly available. The church cooperates with police investigations and the attorney general, and has an independent review board as well as an office of Child and Youth Protection. For more than two decades, the archdiocese has reported every allegation of abuse to the state attorney general’s office by certified mail.
Transparency is the cornerstone of the culture change and the standard of accountability ushered in over the last generation.
The church’s reform is being undermined by speculation related to the archdiocese’s motivation for using insurance funds to pay the legal fees for individuals named in the report. Because these individuals are not accused of abuse, and because the attorney general’s office did not give them an opportunity to respond to the report, I made the decision to guarantee they had a voice in the court proceedings. To me, this was a matter of fundamental fairness.
The evil carried out by abusive priests is despicable and reprehensible. The church cannot run from or hide this truth, nor does the Archdiocese of Baltimore wish to do so.
William E. Lori, Baltimore
The writer is the archbishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Baltimore.