The Portland Catholic Archdiocese Priest Abuse Document Archive

Portland archdiocese suddenly releases personnel files on abusive priests

Portland, Apr. 16, 2008 (CWNews.com) - The Archdiocese of Portland, Oregon, has released thousands of documents related to sex-abuse accusations against Catholic priests, in an unscheduled step that caught victims’ lawyers by surprise.

Archbishop John Vlazny, who had previously resisted the release of personnel files, said that the sudden move to make public more than 20,000 documents was "part of the healing process."

The Portland archdiocese was the first Catholic see in the US to seek bankruptcy protection. In a 2007 settlement with sex-abuse victims, ending the bankruptcy process, the archdiocese agreed to release the files of priests who had molested children. But Archbishop Vlazny had argued for a restrictive interpretation of the agreement, saying that it was essential to maintain confidentiality in documents in order to protect both innocent priests and the victims of abusive clerics. Lawyers for the archdiocese had been sparring with victims’ lawyers over the number of documents to be made public until the eve of the massive disclosure.