Connecticut diocese destroyed ‘antiquated’ abuse complaints
December 02, 2009
Documents released by the Diocese of Bridgeport on December 1 revealed that Bishop Walter Curtis told attorneys that he destroyed “antiquated” clerical abuse complaints because “it happened so long before, there would be no point in preserving it.” Bishop Curtis, who died in 1997, governed the Connecticut diocese from 1961 to 1988.
Bishop Curtis was succeeded by Cardinal Edward Egan, who governed the diocese from 1988 until his transfer to New York in 2000. In a memorandum on a conversation with Father Laurence Brett about an extremely sordid abuse allegation, Cardinal Egan wrote that “all things considered, he made a good impression. In the course of our conversation, the particulars of his case came out in detail and with grace.”
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Further information:
- Records show Egan evasive, skeptical about sex abuse claims (Danbury News Times)
- Bridgeport diocese to release sex-abuse documents today (CWN, 12/1)
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