Priests: Groups, Initiatives, and Issues The sexual abuse crisis has prompted numerous initiatives among Roman Catholic priests in the United States, including petitions, open letters, new organizations, and new activism among established organizations. This is the first installment of an archive on this movement in the priesthood. Please email us with suggestions for adding documents, articles, and links. The documents below include open letters and manifestos by priests' groups, responses by their bishops, an attorney general's interview of a whistleblower priest, and the deposition of another whistleblower. The articles and features offer news stories about emerging priests' groups, and also provide portraits of individual priests who have been outspoken in the crisis, as well as writings by them.

This archive is just a beginning, but the materials that we have so far gathered indicate that priests' collective actions usually pertain to their own situation under the Charter and Norms, or their own discipline of celibacy, or the hierarchy to which they have promised obedience. By contrast, statements and actions on behalf of victims are the work of individual priests. See Tom Doyle's tart assessment of this disparity ("Secondly..."), from our 1/25/03 Fireside Chat. It is to be hoped that the example of activist priests will encourage their colleagues to break the enabling silence so painfully evident in the Suffolk County grand jury report and other documents of the crisis.

Documents

* Boston Priests' Forum, "A Forum for Reflection and Study for Priests" (4/11/02)
* U.S. Cardinals, Letter to Priests (4/24/02)
* A Survey of Roman Catholic Priests in the United States and Puerto Rico, conducted by the LA Times Poll (6/27-10/11/02)
* James Seamus MacCormack, Interview (7/22/02) [a large PDF file]
* 58 Boston Priests, Letter Asking Cardinal Law to Resign (12/9/02)
* Boston Priests' Forum, Statement on Cardinal Law's Resignation (12/13/02)
* Priests Federation of Altoona Johnstown, Press Release (5/15/03)
* 163 Diocesan and Order Priests in Milwaukee Archdiocese, Letter on Optional Celibacy for Priests (8/16/03)
* Bishop Wilton D. Gregory, Response to Milwaukee Priests (9/3/2003)
* Archbishop Timothy M. Dolan, Response to Milwaukee Priests (9/4/2003)
* 52 Priests of Rockville Centre, Letter to Bishop William F. Murphy (10/1/03)
* Deposition of Fr. James J. Scahill {1}{2}
* 69 NY Priests, Letter to Cardinal Egan (12/12/03) [excerpts]
* 23 Chicago-Area Priests, Open Letter to the Hierarchy Regarding the Pastoral Care of Gay and Lesbian Persons (12/19/03)
* Cardinal Francis George, Response to the Open Letter (12/19/03)

Articles and Features

* Patricia Lefevere, Pittsburgh Priests Split from Federation (9/24/99)
* Kansas City Star, AIDS in the Priesthood (1/2000)
* Kenneth Lasch, A Pastor Speaks Out (3/10/02)
* Joseph Hennessey, Letter to the Editor (5/10/02)
* Raymond A. Schroth, Humility and Responsibility: Bishops Can't Exempt Themselves from Tough Line Applied to Priests (6/23/02)
* Wire Reports, Priest Alleges Sex Cover Up (7/24/02)
* Fox Butterfield, Boston Priests Warn Cardinal of False Abuse Accusations (8/22/02)
* Kenneth Lasch, Zero Tolerance? A Reluctant Yes (9/27/02)
* Gerald D. Coleman, Zero Tolerance? No (9/27/02)
* Daniel J. Wakin, Priests Organize, Focusing on Rights within Church (9/29/02)
* Douglas Montero, Priests Told: Get a Lawyer (10/4/02)
* Daniel J. Wakin, Priests Seek to Assert Rights and Fight Church Abuse Policy (10/4/02)
* Dick Ryan, Church may face 2nd Reformation (10/7/02)
* Alan Cooperman, Out of 'Zero Tolerance,' New Support for Priests (10/13/02)
* Ann Rodgers-Melnick, Church Future Subject of Planned Discussions (10/27/02)
* Daniel J. Wakin, Priests Feeling Emboldened After Boston Clergy's Success (12/14/02)
* Gene Collier, The Separation of Church and Critics (12/22/02)
* George Weigel, Myths about Cardinal Law's Resignation (1/31/03)
* Richard John Neuhaus, Boston and Other Bishops (2/03)
* Douglas Belkin, Priest Castigates Springfield Diocese for Abuse Dealings (2/17/03)
* Daniel J. Wakin, Bishop and Priests' Group Clash (3/6/03)
* Mary Zahn and Tom Heinen, Catholic Clergy Groups Expected to Champion Milwaukee Movement (8/26/03)
* Reese Dunklin, Vatican Elevated Abusive Priest: Warnings Didn't Stop Rise through Catholic Diplomatic Corps (8/31/03)
* Bill McClellan, Attack on Family at Priest's Trial Was Unnecessary (8/31/03)
* Laurie Goodstein, Celibacy Issue Flares Again within Ranks of Priesthood (9/5/03)
* Tom Shea, Abuse Victim Tells the Story of a 'Great' Priest (9/14/03)
* Kevin Cullen, Danny's Story | Death of an Altar Boy: A Priest, a Boy, a Mystery (12/17/03)
* Andrew Greeley, Young Fogeys: Young Reactionaries, Aging Radicals -- The U.S. Catholic Church's Unusual Clerical Divide (1/04)
* Sister of a NY Survivor, Letter on Priests' Activism (1/21/04)
* Jack Lindsay, Priests Forum Struggles to Redefine Itself after Scandal (1/24/04)
* Catharine A. Henningsen, The Second Wave of Abuse: The Fate of Our Accused Priests (2/5/04)

Organizations and Web Sources

* Justice for Priests & Deacons
* National Federation of Priest Councils
* The National Institute for the Renewal of the Priesthood
* Opus Bono Sacerdotii (Work for the Good of the Priesthood)
* SNAP's Collection of Articles on the Priesthood

Please send suggestions for adding documents to staff@bishop-accountability.org.