SNAP Wisconsin Response to Bishop Zubik's Statement Today Refusing to Release the Names of Clergy in Green Bay Diocese who have Sexually Abused Minors

Surviors Network of those Abused by Priests -- Wisconsin Chapter
December 20, 2004
For Immediate Release

It is unfortunate that Bishop Zubik, unlike a number of other Bishops and Cardinals in the United States, will not release to Catholics in his diocese the names of those clergy known to have sexually abused minors. Even Archbishop Dolan of Milwaukee, the Metropolitan Bishop of Wisconsin, has released the names of diocesan priests that have abused minors. Archbishop Dolan still needs to release the names of religious order offenders and the location of all sexual abusive clergy in the Milwaukee Archdiocese, but the release of names was a significant first step that Bishop Zubik should follow.

Whose interest is served by keeping the names of sexually abusive clerics secret? How are the children of the Green Bay diocese being served and protected by keeping these names secret? How can parents protect their children from known sex offenders if they do not have the names and locations of these offenders on a public registry?

There are at least 51 clergy in the diocese of Green Bay alleged to have abused minors. While we are highly suspicious of the "criteria" that church leaders use to "substantiate" if a cleric is a sex offender, surely Bishop Zubik could release the names of those that have been so "substantiated."

Every Catholic and every parent has a right to know: Did my bishop place a sex offender priest in my parish or school? Where in my community have you placed this offender? What steps are you taking to ensure that this offender will not molest another child?

Just because a sex offender cleric can no longer conduct Catholic mass or hear confessions does not mean that he will stop abusing children. Most of these individuals are still clergy under the supervision and responsibility of Bishop Zubik. Donald Buzinowski, who was held over for trial today in Brown County and has admitted to abusing over a dozen boys as a priest in Green Bay is still, officially, a Catholic priest, even though the church has known of his sexually criminal behavior for well over a decade.

With all due respect to Bishop Zubik, if anyone has been denied due process in Wisconsin it is the victims of clergy sexual abuse. Our civil right to bring bishops to civil court and demand documents and depositions about the clerics that raped us as children have been uniquely denied us in the State of Wisconsin, due to two controversial Wisconsin Supreme Court decisions (Prizlaff v Archdiocese of Milwaukee & Doe v Archdiocese of Milwaukee). These decisions have dangerously protected sex offender clergy and the bishops who covered up for them. Fortunately, the Wisconsin State Supreme Court has decided last week to re-consider these rulings and will, we hope, overturn these laws and restore victim rights.

Ironically, most of the 51 clergy who may have abused children in the Green Bay diocese have never been brought to justice because church authorities did not turn them over to the police, as was their moral and civic duty. So much for due process.

Finally, we wonder if Bishop Zubik supports the use of Catholic money to pay the attorneys who will argue in defense of the current law before the state Supreme Court? A law that denies victims due process and provides clergy pedophiles and errant bishops a legal shield against justice, making Wisconsin, arguably, the safest state in the country for sex offender clerics.

Revised December 22, 2004.

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