What Does It Mean to Be a 'Credibly Accused' Priest?

The short answer to the question is this: To be a “credibly accused priest” is to meet whatever non-canonical criteria have been established by someone with authority in the chancery, and without due process.

As there is no due process, no canonical or even civil legal proceeding exists to determine whether a priest meets the designation “credibly accused.” In the realm of character assassination, it’s the equivalent of an Obama-style extra-judicial drone strike.

This is an old news story, but one that I recalled recently as I learned of the tragic case of a falsely accused priest being publicly disgraced and canonically abused by officials in his diocese because the was deemed “credibly accused.” Just over a month ago, Catholic World News picked up on a very good Pillar piece on the subject of the Holy See — once again — condemning the irregular and unjust practice.

Victims’ groups, who advocate for swift and meaningful justice to be meted out to abusive priests — whose goals and desires are understandable if not always laudable (swift justice is not always justice) — apparently like these lists of credibly accused priests because it minimizes the possibility of a potential abuser accessing more victims.

But, on the other hand, as there is no due process, a priest may easily find himself falsely (but “credibly”) accused, at which point his name is put on an official list published by the diocese, whose public relations people send press releases to the media. Before he knows it, a good priest has his name dragged through the mud and become a pariah. Not only will his name appear in various secular media outlets, it will also show up on the websites of organizations that boast they are holding the bishops accountable and helping to rid the Church of abusers. It’s a shabby miscarriage of justice.

Please do not think that a good priest cannot be falsely accused. It happens.

The Holy See has now multiple times told dioceses not to do this. But some still do. Sad.

So, when you hear that a priest has been “credibly accused,” take it cum granu salis.