MEDIA STATEMENT

In an Apostolic Letter on sexual abuse in the Church, Pope Francis, wrote:

“You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden” (Mt 5:14). Our Lord Jesus Christ calls every believer to be a shining example of virtue, integrity and holiness. All of us, in fact, are called to give concrete witness of faith in Christ in our lives and, in particular, in our relationship with others.

The Monks of Subiaco take seriously the call of Jesus Christ and of our Holy Father to be “shining examples” to the world.  We know that we have not always lived up to this call.  Because of these failings, we re-committed ourselves to the protection of young people and established our Office of Child Protection.
 
As one of its first works, the Office of Child Protection commissioned an off-site, comprehensive review of all files of monks who are or were associated with Subiaco Abbey. This review met the stringent standards set by Praesidium, our outside third-party safe-environment accrediting organization.
 
As a product of that review, Subiaco Abbey has released a list of monks about whom allegations of sexual abuse of a minor have been established (see below). This is a small part of the larger effort of Subiaco Abbey to provide transparency, accountability, and full disclosure.
 
We understand that releasing this list will reopen wounds of the past for many. Our hearts ache for the victims as we try to atone for the actions of our brother monks in years past. We want to thank the courageous individuals who have come forward to speak with us. While we cannot change the past, we enter the future fully committed to providing a safe, open, welcoming environment for everyone.

Any questions can be directed to our Subiaco Office of Child Protection at ocp@subi.org