Yakima Catholic Diocese responds to WA Attorney General investigation
John Kennedy O’Connor | KIMA News | May 9th, 2024
SEATTLE- Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson announced May 9 an investigation into the Catholic Church's handling of child sexual abuse allegations.
The AG's press conference can be viewed here.
In February, our sister station KOMO News reported about information that indicated leaders of Washington’s Catholic dioceses were subpoenaed. The attorney general's office declined to comment at the time.
Two groups — Ending Clergy Abuse and Catholic Accountability Project (CAP) — gathered outside Ferguson's Olympia office on Feb. 13 calling for the AG to investigate the church.
CAP "welcomes the Attorney General’s announcement of the commencement of a civil investigation into clergy sexual abuse and cover-up within the three dioceses of Washington state," the group said in a statement Thursday morning. "The group expects that Ferguson’s investigation will extend to Catholic religious orders.
"Survivors of clergy abuse and advocates have long called for such an investigation as an essential step towards achieving justice and accountability for victims who have suffered immeasurable harm at the hands of members of the clergy and bishops who concealed their crimes."
Following the press conference, The Reverend Monsignor Robert M. Siler, Episcopal Vicar and Moderator of the Curia for the Diocese of Yakima issued a lengthy written statement welcoming the investigation, but urging the investigation not to focus solely on the Catholic Church, saying as part of the response: "A comprehensive review of sexual abuse of minors in our state would be a great asset. Singling out the Roman Catholic Church, however, may have the opposite effect. Scapegoating one particular Church among thousands – one child-serving institution among hundreds – could contribute to a false sense that sexual abuse of minors is a 'Catholic problem.'"
KIMA Action News will be speaking directly with Father Robert soon.