"We make no excuses for the actions of these men," he said. "They are reprehensible actions and they are not consistent with what the Catholic faith is all about, about how we are to treat each other as human beings, especially as it relates to caring for children."
He said the list's release will create "raw, painful feelings," especially for victims. "We stand ready to listen to them, to try to help them in their healing process with our action and our prayer."
Bishop Barnes reflected on the effects of the sex abuse scandal.
"While we will always bear the mark of this scandal, our failure to protect children in earlier years has ultimately led us to a new awareness and an illumination of this terrible scourge on all of society," he said, citing Christ's words in the Gospel of Luke: "there is nothing hidden that will not become visible, and nothing secret that will not be known and come to light."
The bishop noted that since 2002 six priests have been credibly accused of sexual abuse of a minor. Of these, three were alleged to have committed an act of abuse since that year, while the other three alleged abuse incidents took place before 2002.
The bishop emphasized the diocese's work since 2002, including its adoption of a "zero tolerance" policy for clergy with credible allegations of abuse and its close work with law enforcement in "all reports of abuse."
Fingerprinting and extensive background checks are now mandatory for all clergy and lay employees of the diocese, and all diocesan ministers must take part in training to recognize and prevent the sexual abuse of children.
The diocese also established the Diocesan Office of Child and Youth Protection to ensure safe environment policies and pastoral code of conduct are followed.
The list's release was prompted by the release of a Pennsylvania grand jury report covering a 70-year period across six dioceses in the state. The report alleged more than 300 priests had sexually abused over 1,000 children in that time frame.
Andrews said much of the abuse took place in the more distant past. He noted that only six credible cases had been reported in the last 16 years, compared to 28 cases in the previous 24 years. He said there has been more education about sex abuse and current diocesan response is "very solid."
He said the diocese has adopted habits to encourage transparency and accountability, such as releasing the list of accused clergy.
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"I think the Church is in a crisis that calls us to a greater level of openness, and we are hoping making the information public in this way will help the healing process for victims first and foremost and also for the Catholic faithful of our diocese as a whole," he said.
"When we have an allegation that's credible, we go to the parishes where that priest was, we announce that there is an allegation, and if anybody has been abused by this person, (ask them) to come forward," he said.
Kevin J. Jones is a senior staff writer with Catholic News Agency. He was a recipient of a 2014 Catholic Relief Services' Egan Journalism Fellowship.