WE ARE PAVING THE WAY FOR AN ABUSE-FREE CHURCH

Last December, Archbishop Étienne of Seattle sent a letter to St. Stephens informing the congregation that Rev. Arulanandam Robert Antony had been removed from ministry due to a violation of the Code of Conduct. Antony, a member of India-based Heralds of the Good News (HGN) was the second member of HGN removed from St. Stephens for violation of the Safe Environment Code. Father Jockim Xavier Dasan was removed in 2020 because he was found to have “violated ministerial boundaries.”

In a conversation outside St. James Cathedral in Seattle on Ash Wednesday, Étienne told clergy abuse survivors and advocates that Antony is currently under canonical investigation, information that was not shared with St. Stephens last December. 

A canonical investigation is initiated when a bishop refers an allegation of misconduct that meets a level of credibility and seriousness requiring an investigation to the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith.

You deserve to know.

Members of Catholic Accountability Project pressed Archbishop Etienne for more details regarding the removal of Rev. Arulanandam Robert Antony last December.

who we are

CAP is a Washington State-based initiative of Ending Clergy Abuse, a global human rights organization dedicated to ending the Church’s structural mechanisms that enable abuse. We fight for survivors because we love our Church, and we are committed to cultivating an environment within the Catholic Church prioritizing safety, well-being, and dignity for all.

In the news

Featured
WA Bill Requiring Clergy To Report Child Abuse Dies In House Committee 
WA Bill Requiring Clergy To Report Child Abuse Dies In House Committee 

One woman said she was raped by a priest who went on to sexually assault dozens of other girls, calling the compromise a “loophole that protects abusers, not children.”

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Legislation requiring clergy to report child abuse stalls again in Olympia
Legislation requiring clergy to report child abuse stalls again in Olympia

“People are really concerned about kids and don’t want to give anyone a pass,” said Rep. Tana Senn, D-Mercer Island, the committee’s chair. “We had an honest discussion of issues in our caucus and with the other side and we didn’t have the votes to get it out of the committee.”

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Victims advocacy group says Washington AG is investigating clergy abuse by Catholic bishops
Victims advocacy group says Washington AG is investigating clergy abuse by Catholic bishops

The state Attorney General’s Office may have subpoenaed three Catholic bishops in Washington state seeking “abuse-related documents and evidence,” the Catholic Accountability Project said at a news conference Tuesday, Feb. 13.

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PRESS RELEASES

Featured
Archbishop Étienne failed to disclose canonical investigation into recently removed Renton priest

A canonical investigation is initiated when a bishop refers an allegation of misconduct that meets a level of credibility and seriousness requiring an investigation to the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith.

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Survivors and anti-abuse advocates call on lawmakers to urge AG's office to open clergy abuse reporting hotline

Victims disappointed that newly passed HB 1618 fails to hold perpetrators and the institutions that enabled them accountable

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Survivors and anti-abuse advocates testify against “child victims act” with no retroactive look-back window

Current legislation would fail to hold perpetrators and the institutions that enabled them accountable.

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fighting for survivors

The Catholic Accountability Project (CAP) is dedicated to advocating for justice for victims of clergy sexual abuse and holding perpetrators and those who enabled them responsible for their actions.