On Appeal, Diocese Can Keep Abuse-Suit Documents Sealed

By PAUL von ZIELBAUER

Published: June 26, 2003

HARTFORD, June 25—
Connecticut's Appellate Court ruled today that a state judge erred last year in deciding that sealed court files containing specific allegations of sexual abuse by several priests in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Bridgeport should be opened to the public.

Though today's decision was technical and narrow -- it concerned only whether the lower-court judge had acted properly in ruling that the files were eligible to be unsealed, not the propriety of opening church-related court records to the public -- it represented a victory for the diocese.

For the time being, the decision gives the diocese the power to keep secret the names of the accused priests, as well as the allegations against them byparishioners.

Although Judge Robert F. McWeeny of State Superior Court ordered that the files be opened, the Appellate Court took the unusual step of keeping them sealed while church lawyers appealed the decision.

The diocese, in a statement posted on its Web site today, called the Appellate Court ruling ''another step along the difficult path to justice and reconciliation.''

The diocese, it said, ''will continue to take decisive measures in response to allegations and to comply with all civil and church laws,'' the statement said. ''The Diocese of Bridgeport is dedicated to protecting the innocent and consoling all those who have suffered.''

The sealed files include transcripts of depositions by Cardinal Edward M. Egan, the archbishop of New York, which raised questions about his handling of abuse allegations when, as bishop, he