BOSTON, Mass., Mar. 12, 2014 – Voice of the Faithful®, a movement of Catholics gravely concerned about the Catholic Church’s clergy sexual abuse scandal and Church structures that permit it, said today that Cardinal Edward Egan’s prominent role this Saturday in a celebration featuring a children’s choir is ill-advised considering controversial involvement in that scandal.
Cardinal Egan is scheduled to preside at a Mass following a festival featuring the Pueri Cantores Children’s Choir, with more than 200 children from New York and surrounding communities participating. The festival takes place at St. Ignatius Loyola Parish in New York City.
The juxtaposition of Egan’s statements and attitude about the clergy sexual abuse scandal with a liturgical celebration featuring children is at least insensitive.
Secret Church documents, since made public, show Egan hid clergy sexual abuse crimes during his long tenure in the Diocese of Bridgeport, Connecticut, and was accused of doing the same as archbishop of New York. Many of these transgressions are detailed at BishopAccountablity.org.
In 2009, The New York Times reported that, “In one case, (then) Bishop (of Bridgeport) Egan kept an accused abuser working for five years after receiving a warning and did not suspend him until after a lawsuit was filed. In another, the diocese did not report potential allegations of statutory rape of a teenager impregnated by a priest.”
As recently as 2012, in an interview with Connecticut Magazine, Egan took back an apology he previously made for failing promptly to remove accused priests. He said, “First of all, I should never have said that. I did say if we did anything wrong, I’m sorry, but I don’t think we did anything wrong.”
Voice of the Faithful®: Voice of the Faithful® is a worldwide movement of faithful Roman Catholics working to support survivors of clergy sexual abuse, support priests of integrity and increase the laity’s role in governance and guidance of the Church. More information is at www.votf.org.
Contact: Nick Ingala, 781-559-3360, nickingala@votf.org