Cardinal Egan: 19 alleged abuse victims not a ‘significant’ number

December 03, 2009

Documents released by the Diocese of Bridgeport on December 1 revealed that Cardinal Edward Egan, while bishop of the Connecticut diocese, characterized the number of alleged abuse victims as insignificant when seen in the context of a diocese of 360,000 Catholics.

“Bishop Egan, the fact that 19 individuals have come forward and made claims: you don’t consider that to be a significant number of individuals?” an attorney asked.

“I do not consider that a significant segment or factor,” Cardinal Egan answered.

“Would you agree with me, Bishop Egan,” the lawyer continued, “that if one person, one individual, has been affected by the sexual abuse of a clergy member, when that person was a child, that that’s far too much to accept in any diocese?”

“It would not be a significant portion of the diocese,” Cardinal Egan answered. “Your question was ‘a significant portion of the diocese.’ ”

“However, were even one person to have been abused sexually, while that one person could not numerically be categorized as a significant portion,” Cardinal Egan added, “the activity would be significant and more.”

Created a cardinal in the consistory of 2001, Cardinal Egan was appointed Bishop of Bridgeport in 1988 and served as Archbishop of New York from 2000 until earlier this year. In the seventh paragraph of the linked article, The New York Times has inaccurately reported that he became Archbishop of New York in 2002.

 

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Further information:

• In Egan’s Depositions, a New View of a Sex Scandal (New York Times)
• Court documents (Hartford Courant)
• Connecticut diocese destroyed ‘antiquated’ abuse complaints (CWN, 12/2)