PROVIDENCE, Rhode Island — The Roman Catholic Diocese of Providence says it plans to release the names of priests who have been “credibly accused” of sexual assault.
WPRI-TV http://www.wpri.com reports that Bishop Thomas Tobin made the announcement Friday. Tobin said the diocese has started gathering the list and will release it in 2019.
The list is to include priests who are still alive and those who have died.
Tobin said most of the cases have already been publicly reported. He added that the diocese reports all accusations to law enforcement agencies, even if they aren’t thought to be credible.
The Providence diocese follows several others across the U.S. that have started publicizing the names of accused priests.
Tobin said that in his 13 years at the diocese, he has publicly removed five priests over accusations.
