According to Neronha, the church could be doing more to address child sexual abuse. Yet diocese leaders have pushed back at the conclusions from the report, maintaining there are no “credibly accused clergy in active ministry.”
Here's what to know about the investigation.
How the diocese handled reports of child abuse
The report described church records as “damning,” declaring that the diocese often failed to take the proper steps to protect children from sexual abuse. While clergy abuse has been widely exposed, up until Wednesday's report, the scope of what took place in Rhode Island had largely been unknown.
The report flagged that the diocese often transferred accused priests to new assignments without thoroughly investigating complaints or contacting law enforcement. This practice was common, as other investigations in Boston, Philadelphia and elsewhere have exposed.
This includes the Diocese of Providence opening a “spiritual retreat-style facility” in the early 1950s, where several accused priests were sent elsewhere for a period of time with the goal of returning to work. This practice evolved into sending accused priests to more formal treatment centers after determining clergy abuse may stem from mental health problems.
The report said the diocese’s “overreliance and misplaced faith” in the treatment centers was at best “absurdly Pollyannaish.”
By the 1990s, accused priests were sometimes placed on sabbatical leave.
Were any of the priests charged?
In total, only 20 people — about a quarter of the clergy identified in the report — faced criminal charges, and just 14 were convicted. A dozen others were laicized, or dismissed from the clerical state.
Neronha’s office has charged four current and former priests with sexual abuse for allegations stemming from 2020 to 2022.
Three of them are still awaiting trial. The fourth priest died after being deemed incompetent to stand trial in 2022.
How the diocese responded to the recent report
In a lengthy response, the Diocese of Providence acknowledged that “serious missteps” were made by church leaders in the past, but stressed that the diocese willingly shared internal records under a 2019 agreement with the state.
“The report presents this 75-year history in ways that might lead the reader to conclude these issues are an ongoing diocesan problem or that these are new revelations. They are not,” the statement says.
What about settlements?
The report details some of the settlements the Diocese of Providence made with victims over the years, alluding that the church has paid “millions of dollars to settle civil abuse claims,” but described details about the settlement decisions as “troubling.” The report says the award amounts were often “modest” and limited. The diocese stopped its financial compensation program in 2007, which Neronha said should be reinstituted to compensate additional victims.
Elsewhere, dioceses in other states have agreed to large multimillion-dollar clergy sexual abuse settlements. Earlier this year, a New Jersey Catholic diocese agreed to pay $180 million after initially fighting a state grand jury investigation for years.
The New Orleans Archdiocese agreed to pay at least $230 million to hundreds of survivors of clergy sexual abuse under a settlement approved by a federal judge in December. The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston agreed to pay $85 million to settle more than 500 clergy sex abuse lawsuits in 2003.
What the Rhode Island investigation recommends
The state's report urged clergy leaders to address ongoing concerns about abuse, outlining multiple changes for the diocese, which include providing clear investigative timelines and guidelines.
The report then stressed the need for the diocese to abandon the practice of requiring victims to take polygraph tests and to stop refusing to investigate third-party complaints about priests.
Separately, Neronha called on Rhode Island lawmakers to change various state laws that would remove obstacles for victims coming forward. He particularly noted that state law currently prevents grand jury reports from becoming public. This meant his office couldn't use that option to investigate the diocese because he didn't want the findings to remain secret.
Neronha also recommended that the criminal statute of limitations on second-degree assault should be extended and that the civil statute of limitations on certain child sexual abuse claims should be expanded. Those bills are currently being introduced inside the Democratic-controlled statehouse.