The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of St. Louis has released the names of 61 clergy who face what it calls “substantiated” allegations of sexual abuse of children.
The archdiocese published the names online Friday and says none of the priests are currently in ministry.
Archbishop Robert Carlson says in a letter posted on the website that he has witnessed the “devastating impact” sexual abuse has had on the lives of victims and their families, and that publishing the list, while painful, is “the right thing to do.”
The list is the result of an internal investigation launched last year, soon after a report in Pennsylvania cited the abuse of more than 1,000 children by hundreds of priests dating to the 1940s.
The St. Louis archdiocese list also names three priests deemed to have been credibly accused of possessing child pornography.
