A recently-published list of Catholic priests accused or convicted of sexual abuse is “substantially correct,” according to a statement from the Diocese of London.
The list, published Wednesday by the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP), contains the names of 36 priests who worked in the London-area, along with a number of other cities such as Toronto, Windsor and Sarnia.
A statement from the Diocese of London was published a day later and expressed “our utmost regret for the suffering that has been incurred as a result of clergy sexual abuse.”
The statement noted that while the list “appears to be substantially correct… we cannot confirm its accuracy in its entirety.”
“We can confirm, however, that there are four other priests against whom allegations involving minors have been made,” the statement said. “None of the priests continues to work within the Diocese or elsewhere in the Church.”
The statement provided no comfort for SNAP’s southwestern Ontario leader Brenda Brunelle.
“I was a little disheartened when I read that I was missing four names,” Brunelle said.
“Who are those four names?”
Brunelle said she had reached out to the diocese’s bishop, Rev. Ronald Fabbro, in hopes that he’d be the one to release the names included on SNAP’s list.
“He didn’t even have (the) courtesy or compassion to reach out to me — a victim of child abuse in his diocese.”
In its statement, the diocese noted that Fabbro has met with a number of sexual abuse survivors and their families.
The statement added that as part of the diocese’s commitment to supporting survivors, “Those who wish to tell their story may do so, and those who are concerned about being inadvertently identified can choose to remain protected by confidentiality.”
Global News reached out to the Diocese of London for further comment, but received no response by the time of publishing.