CAMDEN, N.J. -- Amid a wave of sexual abuse allegations against its priests, the Diocese of Camden has sent a 32-page special edition newspaper addressing the issue to 130,000 parishioners, according to The Philadelphia-Inquirer.
The May 10 edition of the Catholic Star Herald stressed safeguards the Diocese is taking and includes an interview with an abuse victim.
"In the secular press, sometimes you get the impression that the church is doing nothing to respond, which is not true," the Rev. Joseph D. Wallace of St. Mary's Parish told The Philadelphia-Inquirer.
"We wanted every baptized Catholic in South Jersey to know what we're doing to address this terrible crisis…and to assure people that we're doing everything humanly possible to protect their children," he said.
Eighteen plaintiffs have sued the diocese, claiming priests sexually assaulted them and the church conspired to cover up the abuse. The 21 priests and other church officials named in the suits are all dead.
The special-edition newspaper includes the diocese's policies for handling sexual molestation allegations, a report on the first meeting of a panel organized by the diocese to respond to the crisis, and a toll-free number to report sexual abuse.
