• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
Catholic Review

Catholic Review

Inspiring the Archdiocese of Baltimore

Menu
  • Home
  • News
        • Local News
        • World News
        • Vatican News
        • Obituaries
        • Featured Video
        • En Español
        • Sports News
        • Official Clergy Assignments
        • Schools News
  • Commentary
        • Contributors
          • Question Corner
          • George Weigel
          • Elizabeth Scalia
          • Michael R. Heinlein
          • Effie Caldarola
          • Guest Commentary
        • CR Columnists
          • Archbishop William E. Lori
          • Rita Buettner
          • Christopher Gunty
          • George Matysek Jr.
          • Mark Viviano
          • Father Joseph Breighner
          • Father Collin Poston
          • Robyn Barberry
          • Hanael Bianchi
          • Amen Columns
  • Entertainment
        • Events
        • Movie & Television Reviews
        • Arts & Culture
        • Books
        • Recipes
  • About Us
        • Contact Us
        • Our History
        • Meet Our Staff
        • Photos to own
        • Books/CDs/Prayer Cards
        • CR Media platforms
        • Electronic Edition
  • Advertising
  • Shop
        • Purchase Photos
        • Books/CDs/Prayer Cards
        • Magazine Subscriptions
        • Archdiocesan Directory
  • CR Radio
        • CR Radio
        • Protagonistas de Fe
  • News Tips
  • Subscribe
People attend Mass at the Cathedral of St. Mary of the Assumption in San Francisco May 19, 2024. The San Francisco Archdiocese is facing calls to publish its list of clergy credibly accused of sexual abuse. (OSV News photo/Bob Roller)

Attorney, archdiocese spar over list of credibly accused priests

January 9, 2025
By Gina Christian
OSV News
Filed Under: Child & Youth Protection, News, World News

A lawyer for abuse survivors has accused San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore J. Cordileone of “endangering kids” by allegedly refusing to release the names of credibly accused priests — charges the archdiocese strongly denies, citing its compliance with the church’s norms for handling clerical abuse.

Attorney Jeff Anderson held a Jan. 6 press conference outside the Cathedral of St. Mary of the Assumption in San Francisco, claiming that Archbishop Cordileone had promised to issue such a list three years earlier, but had not done so.

Anderson — who represents several survivors associated with the Archdiocese of San Francisco’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing, according to the archdiocese — said Archbishop Cordileone and his predecessors had “kept secret for decades” about “credibly accused offenders” and “predators.”

San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore J. Cordileone prays during solemn vespers and a Holy Hour at Mission Dolores Basilica in San Francisco May 18, 2024. The San Francisco Archdiocese is facing calls to publish its list of clergy credibly accused of sexual abuse. (OSV News photo/Bob Roller)

In a Jan. 6 statement provided to OSV News, the Archdiocese of San Francisco said, without naming Anderson directly, that the press conference had included “several unfounded personal attacks … made against Archbishop Cordileone to damage his reputation and commitment to protecting survivors of sexual abuse.”

The archdiocese outlined in detail its procedures for compliance with the Dallas Charter, saying that it “treats every accusation of sexual abuse seriously” and that “immediate steps are taken to protect the rights of both the alleged abuse survivor and the alleged abuser.” Such compliance also entails an annual third-party audit submitted to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

During the media event — which was livestreamed on the YouTube channel of Anderson’s firm — Anderson was accompanied by fellow attorneys and several survivors, two of whom, he said, had filed complaints with the Vatican that same day, detailing their concerns regarding Archbishop Cordileone’s handling of their cases.

Anderson named the survivors, who spoke during the press conference, although OSV News is withholding their names pending direct confirmation of their consent to share.

“We demand that the Vatican, that the pope, remove Archbishop Cordileone from his post for gross malfeasance, for deception, for deceit, for conscious choices, time and time again … for choosing to protect offenders instead of those that need protection — that is, the kids,” even following “more than 450” abuse claim cases brought against the archdiocese, said Anderson.

In August 2023, when it announced it was filing for Chapter 11, the Archdiocese of San Francisco said the “overwhelming majority” of these abuse claims “stem from allegations of sexual abuse that occurred 30 or more years ago involving priests who are no longer active in ministry or are deceased.”

The two survivors’ complaints against Archbishop Cordileone were filed under “Vox Estis Lux Mundi” (“You are the light of the world”), a motu proprio Pope Francis issued in 2019 outlining global legal procedures for how the church should deal with clergy sexual abuse, including procedures for investigating bishops. Following a three-year experimental period, “Vos Estis” was definitively promulgated in March 2023.

“Vos Estis” is one of two key documents that lay out broad protocols for the response of the Catholic Church in the U.S. to sexual abuse by its clergy, religious and other pastoral leaders.

In 2002, as a number of clerical abuse scandals emerged, the U.S. Catholic bishops implemented the “Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People.” The document — commonly called the Dallas Charter — lays out a comprehensive set of procedures for addressing allegations of sexual abuse of minors by Catholic clergy. The charter also includes guidelines for reconciliation, healing, accountability and prevention of abuse.

A number — though not all — of U.S. dioceses and eparchies have published lists of clergy found to be credibly accused of abuse.

However, the Dallas Charter does not specifically require that such lists be released, although it mandates that dioceses and eparchies “are to be open and transparent in communicating with the public about sexual abuse of minors by clergy within the confines of respect for the privacy and the reputation of the individuals involved,” and “especially … with regard to informing parish and other church communities directly affected by sexual abuse of a minor.”

Regarding calls for the “credibly accused list” — which one survivor at the press conference called “very important,” describing the lack of one as “the absence of truth” — the archdiocese said, “The list that some media outlets and plaintiff attorneys refer to demands naming anyone who has been accused of abuse whether sustained or not, and without any due process.

“In other words, if someone wanted to accuse one of abuse, all that a person needs to do is make an accusation and one would appear on the list without any opportunity to defend oneself,” said the archdiocese. “This is unjust for those who have been falsely accused.”

The archdiocese pointed to its list of clergy in good standing as a primary reference, and noted that “Vatican officials, and even Pope Francis himself, have spoken against publishing names of accused priests unless a final sentence of guilt has been issued in a proper judicial process.”

In its statement, the archdiocese also said that the two “Vos Estis” complaints cited during the press conference “have nothing to do with the acts covered” by the motu proprio, but that “the Archdiocese and the Archbishop will cooperate fully with whatever process may be deemed necessary by higher authority.”

Read More Child & Youth Protection

Former Catholic high school counselor sentenced for abusing teen student

N.J. top court ruling allows grand injury investigations for clerical abuse

A pending element of tackling the abuse crisis: transparency

Parishes will pay $80 million in Buffalo Diocese’s $150 million bankruptcy settlement

Washington Archdiocese announces layoffs, spending cuts, restructuring

Report: Abuse allegations and costs down, but complacency a threat

Copyright © 2025 OSV News

Print Print

Primary Sidebar

Gina Christian

Click here to view all posts from this author

For the latest news delivered twice a week via email or text message, sign up to receive our free enewsletter.

| MOST POPULAR |

  • ordination 2025 baltimore Excitement and pride abound at ordination of five priests for Archdiocese of Baltimore

  • Deacon Alex Mwebaze is happy to call Maryland home

  • Deacon O’Donnell’s ‘normal’ faith life led to priestly vocation

  • Need for more Catholic Army chaplains to serve military flock as great as ever, say two priests

  • For Deacon Shiadrik Mokum, the priesthood is all about community

| Latest Local News |

Radio Interview: Religious freedom faces ongoing challenges

ordination 2025 baltimore

Excitement and pride abound at ordination of five priests for Archdiocese of Baltimore

Pilgrims walk in the footsteps of America’s first saint

Juneteenth

Juneteenth seen as day to reflect on freedom, ending racism and Black Catholics’ contributions

Deacon O’Donnell’s ‘normal’ faith life led to priestly vocation

| Latest World News |

corpus christi

Pope leads Corpus Christi procession through streets of Rome

suicide bombing Damascus church

‘Slaughter of innocents’ in suicide bombing at Syrian church called ‘unspeakable evil’

Bomb Iran

Trump orders US attack on Iran nuclear sites, as Pope Leo, bishops plead for peace

Visiting Upstate New York’s National Shrine of Our Lady of Martyrs

Catholic Relief Services worker in Ipwizi, Tanzania

Washington Roundup: Trump weighs options in Israel-Iran conflict, CLINIC condemns expanded ICE raids

| Catholic Review Radio |

CatholicReview · Catholic Review Radio

Footer

Our Vision

Real Life. Real Faith. 

Catholic Review Media communicates the Gospel and its impact on people’s lives in the Archdiocese of Baltimore and beyond.

Our Mission

Catholic Review Media provides intergenerational communications that inform, teach, inspire and engage Catholics and all of good will in the mission of Christ through diverse forms of media.

Contact

Catholic Review
320 Cathedral Street
Baltimore, MD 21201
443-524-3150
mail@CatholicReview.org

 

Social Media

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Recent

  • Radio Interview: Religious freedom faces ongoing challenges
  • Pope leads Corpus Christi procession through streets of Rome
  • Excitement and pride abound at ordination of five priests for Archdiocese of Baltimore
  • ‘Slaughter of innocents’ in suicide bombing at Syrian church called ‘unspeakable evil’
  • Pilgrims walk in the footsteps of America’s first saint
  • Trump orders US attack on Iran nuclear sites, as Pope Leo, bishops plead for peace
  • We are part of the miracle
  • Visiting Upstate New York’s National Shrine of Our Lady of Martyrs
  • Washington Roundup: Trump weighs options in Israel-Iran conflict, CLINIC condemns expanded ICE raids

Search

Membership

Catholic Media Assocation

Maryland-Delaware-DC Press Association

The Associated Church Press

© 2025 CATHOLIC REVIEW MEDIA, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED