The Archdiocese of Seattle has added a dead priest to its list of clergy who are accused of sexually abusing children, the first such action since names of dozens of clergy were published more than two years ago.
Monsignor Philip Duffy, who died in 1987 and served as superintendent of the church's schools in Seattle from 1947 to 1968, was added to the list after a "long" and "painstaking" investigation, according to Greg Magnoni, spokesman for the church. An alleged victim reported abuse by Duffy in 1959 or 1960, according to an emailed statement from the church on Tuesday.
The announcement comes on the same day that a grand jury in Pennsylvania issued a report revealing that hundreds of that state's Catholic priests molested children who may number "in the thousands," starting in the mid-1950s, while senior church officials covered up the abuse. Cases of child sexual abuse by Catholic priests, nuns and other members of religious orders have been made since the 1980s -- usually by adults, decades after the abuse occurred -- prompting a landmark apology by Pope John Paul II in 2001.
"You're talking about an allegation from 50 years ago, and an individual's reputation is on the line," Magnoni said in a phone interview. "It's past the statute of limitations so we can't get law enforcement to conduct an investigation, so we do our own. It's a very deliberative process."
The church isn't investigating any other officials who haven't already been named, he added.
The individuals named on the list posted to the Seattle Archdiocese website are accused in allegations that have been "admitted, established or determined to be credible," according the church's statement.
The original list was published in January 2016 and was compiled with the assistance of an independent consulting firm and the Archdiocesan Review Board, a group of professionals who advise the archbishop on matters involving sexual abuse of minors.
The archdiocese consulted the same firm after an individual made the allegations against Duffy, resulting in its recommendation to add him to the list, according to the statement. That advice was then approved by the review board.
The Northwest Leader for the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests Mary Dispenoza said she believes they only added the name because of the attention they are now receiving and that there is possibly more names they haven't added.
"I don't believe the diocese has lived up to their promise of transparency because their first list was incomplete," she said, adding that Duffy had been credibly accused before being added to the list on Tuesday.
"I would like them to release the records on all the predators in the diocese," she said. "That would be complete transparency."
