Baltimore church sex abuse survivors want archbishop to resign, accused priests named
By Paul Gessler
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BALTIMORE (WJZ) — Baltimore Catholic sex abuse survivors are calling for Archbishop William Lori to resign.
This comes after local newspapers published the redacted names of church officials accused of abuse and cover-ups in the Baltimore Catholic Church.
Survivors want the church to name the rest.
The grand jury report identified 158 clergy accused of abusing more than 600 victims. But 15 names were redacted or kept out of the report.
That includes the names of five church officials, the report alleges, who helped cover up decades of abuse.
Names of three of the 10 redacted priests were also published.
“But, who are the other seven?” said David Lorenz, director of the Maryland Network of those Abused by Priests.
Survivors, on Monday, pressed the church to remove all priests who enabled abusers, and name the others accused.
“We have to go after, not only the perpetrators, but those who are protecting the perpetrators,” survivor Frank Schindler said.
“We call on (Archbishop) Lori today to immediately remove all five of these church officials from their pastoral duties,” Lorenz said.
Survivors and advocates for those survivors are calling for Baltimore Archbishop Lori to resign from his position.
Lori has said the church has a “strong record of transparency.”
The Archdiocese of Baltimore has maintained the redactions were not at the request of the church.
“This is one more lie the diocese is putting out,” Lorenz said. “One more reason for them not trust what they tell us.”
A new law, signed last month, eliminated the statute of limitations for survivors to sue their abusers.
Many say that’s already bringing more victims forward.
There remains a legal fight to release an unredacted version of the Attorney General’s report.
The AG says the Archdiocese can release them whenever they want, something church officials dispute.
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