“If only a list of priests with credible allegations of sexual abuse of a minor had been released 15 years ago, perhaps we would be farther along our collective path of healing. But for many reasons, this was not able to happen.” –Burlington, Vermont Bishop Christopher J. Coyne
Wow! From our perspective at Horowitz Law, there’s a lot to unpack in these two sentences. The first sentence isn’t awful, but it’s misleading. Why? Because Coyne talks only of ‘healing,’ which implies that the abuse and cover-up crisis is essentially over, and all that’s needed now is taking care of the adults who were violated as kids. Coyne is subtly refusing to admit that some credibly accused child molesting clerics are a threat to kids right now – a fact that we believe takes precedence over the ‘healing’ of already wounded adults.
As we have repeated time and time in this blog, and as virtually everyone understands, the church’s crisis has two key parts: the child sex crimes by some clerics themselves AND the cover-up of those crimes by other clerics. But Coyne’s second sentence is a doozy. He claims that “for many reasons,” a “list of priests with credible allegations of sexual abuse of a minor. . . was not able to happen” in Vermont years ago. A more accurate – but admittedly lengthy – way to phrase this would be:
“For decades, hundreds of current and former Vermont Catholic church employees – starting with those at the very top, Vermont’s bishops – have repeatedly made the reckless, callous and self-serving choice to protect themselves, their careers, their comfort, their reputations and their status by hiding predator priests’ names INSTEAD of protecting vulnerable and innocent boys, girls and adults inside and outside of the church.”
There’s a phrase describing Coyne’s careful construction of these two sentences. It’s called using ‘the passive voice.’ According to Grammarly, here’s why some people use ‘the passive voice:’ ” When the writer or speaker wants to avoid blame. Sometimes, someone wants to acknowledge that something unpleasant happened without making it crystal –clear who’s at fault. The classic example: “Mistakes were made.”
Who made them? Is anyone taking responsibility? What’s the solution here? One political scientist dubbed this kind of construction the “past exonerative” because it’s meant to exonerate the speaker/writer from whatever foul may have been committed. In other words, drop the subject and get off the hook.
That’s precisely what Coyne is doing here: trying to avoid blame, blame on him and each of his predecessors and dozens of their underlings. So, to be perfectly clear, Coyne’s lying when he says that the disclosure of Vermont predator priests’ names “was not able to happen.” It COULD have happened and SHOULD have happened. But Vermont Catholic officials – including Coyne- CHOSE NOT to reveal this information. A number of dioceses posted lists of credibly accused child molesting clerics long before Vermont did. Two of them – Baltimore and Tucson – did so as far back as 2002.
And to get more specific, Coyne not only CHOSE to keep secrets about predator priests in Vermont. He did so elsewhere as well. He first became a bishop in Indianapolis where, for four years, he evidently did little or nothing to reveal long-hidden records about child molesting clerics. At his installation there, he was met with protectors who were upset at his track record on the abuse crisis.
So where did Coyne learn how to be so secretive about abuse? Very likely back when he was ‘cabinet secretary for communications’ and archdiocesan spokesman in the Boston archdiocese under one of the most notorious enablers of clergy sex crimes and cover-ups, Cardinal Bernard Law. Law’s replacement demoted Coyne, naming him pastor of a parish. Some church-goers vocally opposed Coyne’s appointment because of his work for Law. Coyne then asked for and was granted a transfer, becoming pastor of a different Massachusetts parish.
Back to the document posted on the Vermont diocesan website, in which Coyne regrets the disclosures about crimes and criminals that ‘did not happen.’ Coyne goes on to make other dubious claims and uses carefully crafted language to deny and minimize the extent of the horrors caused by him, previous Vermont bishops, and dozens of Vermont priests. For example:
- “The innocent victims of the family secret are often made to feel ashamed about what happened. . .” Who made survivors feel like this? Coyne won’t say.
- “These ‘sins of the past’ continue to haunt us.” Whose ‘sins’ are these? Coyne won’t say. And by the way, these acts are better described as ‘crimes,’ not sins.
- “We must remain vigilant in ensuring these sins do not occur in the future.” Again, ‘sins’ are handled by church officials. By calling abuse’ sins,’ he subtly implies that these heinous deeds are best handled ‘in-house‘ by the Catholic hierarchy.
- “The Church in the United States has put in place policies and procedures to make the Catholic Church one of the safest places for children today.”
This is perhaps Coyne’s MOST dubious claim. There is no real way to measure or rank institutions and how they deal with abuse. Common sense tells us that it’s extremely unlikely that a huge, ancient, secretive, calcified, and slow-moving entity like the Catholic church could possibly – in just a few years – miraculously go from being perhaps the MOST dangerous place for kids to being the LEAST dangerous place for kids.
In case you are curious about what happened after Coyne left Vermont, he was promoted. He’s now the head of the Hartford Archdiocese in Connecticut. In July 2024, his replacement, John J. McDermott, was installed as Vermont’s current bishop. Given all of this, it’s not hard to understand why so many civil lawsuits against those who committed and concealed awful crimes against children have been and are being filed in the small state of Vermont. For more information on clergy sex crimes and cover-ups in Burlington diocesan churches, see these links:
- https://www.adamhorowitzlaw.com/blog/2024/09/roman-catholic-diocese-of-burlington-vermont-files-for-chapter-11-bankruptcy-protection/
- https://www.adamhorowitzlaw.com/blog/2021/04/child-sex-abuse-and-coverup-lawsuit-filed-in-vermont/
Take a look at the official Vermont Diocesan ‘credibly accused‘ abusers list, with 40 names on it. And here’s a list of 47 publicly accused Vermont child molesting clerics from a more independent source, BishopAccountability.org.
Horowitz Law is a law firm representing victims and survivors of sexual abuse by religious authority figures and other clergy. If you need a lawyer because a member of a religious organization sexually abused you, contact us today at 888-283-9922 or [email protected] to discuss your options today. Our lawyers have decades of experience representing survivors of clergy sexual abuse nationwide. We can help.