We take special issue with those dioceses who think that publishing a list of names of clerics who have been ‘credibly’ accused of sexual misconduct is warranted. We disagree for many reasons – canonical, theological, pastoral, and legal. It is this latter reason we wish to address here.
“A Catholic priest who is accused of sexual abuse is immediately assumed to be guilty and paraded through the media as a pedophile, regardless of the fact that there is no proof other than that someone said he did it,” Maher said.