Des Moines, Iowa, Jun 5, 2019 / 23:03 pm
The Catholic bishops of Iowa have agreed to voluntarily hand over records on clerical sex abuse allegations in their dioceses, responding to a request made last week by the state attorney general.
"Our compliance is inspired by the teachings of Jesus and his Catholic Church: that it is right and good to respond to the sin and crime of clergy sexual abuse with sorrow, repentance, amendment of life, and efforts to repair the harm done," the bishops said in a June 3 statement.
"In this regard, if there have been failures in the past, it is not for lack of trying. And after discovering when and where our efforts have fallen short, we will try again; there is no perfection this side of heaven."
On May 31, Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller sent a letter to the four dioceses of the state, saying that he was planning a third-party review of their sex abuse records, in the interest of transparency and healing for victims.