San Diego Diocese’s Statement Regarding New Lawsuits
STATEMENT RETRACTION AND CORRECTION
**ATTENTION EDITORS**
A statement released on January 2, 2020 by Kevin Eckery, vice chancellor of the Diocese of San Diego and spokesperson for the diocese contained a major factual error concerning the status of deceased Rev. Alexander Pinter, a credibly accused priest of the Diocese of Oakland, CA—NOT, the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, OH
That statement has been retracted and corrected. We apologize for the error.
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Please attribute this statement to Kevin Eckery, vice chancellor of the Diocese of San Diego and spokesperson for the diocese:
“Because of an editing error at the Diocese of San Diego, deceased Rev. Alexander Pinter, a priest of the Catholic Diocese of Oakland was inadvertently identified as being incardinated (i.e. assigned or belonging) to the Archdiocese of Cincinnati.
“This is incorrect.
“Rev. Pinter was never assigned to the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, has no record of complaints in the Archdiocese of Cincinnati and has no reason to be listed in any record of credibly accused priests maintained by the Archdiocese.
“His name is currently published on the list of credibly accused priests at the Diocese of Oakland, CA. That list may be found here:
https://oakdiocese.org/credible-accusations
“The Diocese of San Diego apologizes for any concern or inconvenience this error may have caused.
“Our revised statement concerning Rev. Pinter is below:
“While we can’t respond to any specifics involved in these lawsuits, five of the six men mentioned in today’s news conference are known sexual predators whose names have been published on our website. All of the men are dead. Two of them belong to Catholic religious orders (Koerner and Marron) and were not San Diego diocesan priests. A sixth, Alexander Pinter, was briefly in San Diego in the early 60’s, but eventually moved to the Diocese of Oakland. The Diocese of Oakland, CA published Pinter’s name on their list of accused priests, but no complaint about Pinter was ever received in the Diocese of San Diego.
“At least one of these men was rightfully sent to prison for his crimes. Our hearts and prayers and deepest apologies go out to their victims and all victims of clergy sex abuse.
“Regardless of the legal issues involved, we have a moral obligation to provide assistance to any victim-survivor of that abuse and we would urge their attorney to contact us so that counseling can be arranged at our expense. There are no prior conditions and the offer of counseling stands regardless of any lawsuit against the diocese.
“The sexual abuse of minors is evil, regardless of when it happens, but as a result of various reforms in 2002 and earlier, including mandatory Safe Environment training for clergy and all church workers, annual age-appropriate safety training for students in Catholic schools and religious education, enhanced criminal background checks and enhanced awareness and vigilance, no new incidents of abuse have been reported to the diocese in nearly two decades.
“Details about the steps the diocese has taken to prevent and report abuse can be found on our website at www.safeinourdiocese.org
“Finally, we would also invite any victim-survivor of sexual abuse to participate in the Independent Compensation Program established this fall as an additional avenue they can use to pursue their legal claims. There are no costs or obligation to victims. If they go through the compensation program and reject the compensation offer they receive, they have not given up their right to pursue their claim in the courts. In most cases, a victim-survivor will receive an offer within 90 days of their claim being finalized.”
Contact: Kevin Eckery 916-296-5945 (cell)