WHEELING, W.Va. — The Wheeling-Charleston Diocese hopes to release the list of priests and other ministers in the church who have had a credible accusation of child sexual abuse since 1950 by the end of November, according to one of the top church officials working on the release.
Bryan Minor, delegate of administrative affairs of the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston, said Thursday on MetroNews “Talkline” the Diocese hopes to release the list by Nov. 30.
The Diocese announced Wednesday it had been going back through decades of Catholic Church records in recent months concerning its priests, deacons and priests of various orders who have served in the Wheeling-Charleston Diocese. The names of those who have had credible accusations against them will be released.
Minor has said the only way to rebuild trust with church members is take some of the major issues that have been with the church and be open about them.
When asked on Thursday’s “Talkline” if the information released would include any alleged attempts to cover-up child sexual abuse allegations, Minor said not at this point.
“I don’t think we’ve crossed that bridge yet and we’ll have to consider that moving forward. My answer to you today would have to be no, because I don’t know if all of that information would be available for each name that would be on the list,” Minor said. “That’s a work in progress.”
Minor said again Thursday that many who will be on the list have already died. He said none of those named will be in active ministry with the church.
“If we know everything about all the clergy currently serving in the Diocese and if there was an allegation, there would be no way they would be in active ministry,” Minor said.