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| Archbishop John C. Wester speaks to expose pedophile priests |
Despite efforts by the Vatican to silence his attempts, Archbishop John Wester of the Archdiocese of Santa Fe has released a full list of names of those who are known to the Roman Catholic Church as predatory pedophiles, but who's crimes have been covered-up by Church officials.
Archbishop Wester announced the release of the names on Tuesday in a letter to parishioners after decades of pressure from victims and their family members who wanted the rapists to be exposed in a complete list.
Addressing his congregation, Wester said he can no longer follow the Pope's wishes to "look the other way" and help the Vatican cover up these "unholy deeds".
Although some of the names of accused priests on the list were already known due to campaigning from victims, the identities of the majority of the abusers had remained secret, with most of them still serving in communities, unknown to local citizens, until now.
Also listed were priests and religious leaders who were publicly accused but whose criminal or canonical proceedings were never completed due to those accused priests suddenly dying before the allegations could be fully processed, Wester said.
Traditionally, the Catholic Church keeps much of its Canon law proceedings secret, and operates under its own protocols, outside of the regular law.
Wester told parishioners the archdiocese needed to publicly acknowledge and identify clergy and religious leaders accused of perpetrating child sexual abuse within the one of the nation's oldest archdiocese.
"We must practice openness and transparency whenever possible, as this is essential for rebuilding trust and healing wounds," Wester wrote.
"While many of the accused names have already been made public or have been identified elsewhere, this is the first time the archdiocese has published such a list.
"Wester called the abuse cases "deep source of sadness and shame for our church.
"The list (link to original document here) does not provide details of the crimes or the convictions.
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