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The University of Scranton will change the names of three campus buildings that honor Diocese of Scranton bishops accused of covering up sexual abuse, university President the Rev. Scott R. Pilarz said in a letter to the university community Monday.

A grand jury report made public last week implicated Bishops James C. Timlin, J. Carroll McCormick and Jerome D. Hannan in covering up sexual abuse against children. University leaders had been considering how to best respond to the “disturbing report,” Pilarz wrote in the letter. On Monday, Pilarz consulted with a group of faculty, administrators, alumni and student leaders and recommended a course of action to the university’s board of trustees, which unanimously approved renaming the buildings.

“With sympathy for and in solidarity with victims of sexual abuse in the Diocese of Scranton, the University of Scranton will rescind honorary degrees and rename campus buildings recognizing Bishops Jerome D. Hannan, J. Carroll McCormick and James C. Timlin,” Pilarz said in the letter. “As documented in the report, these bishops covered up the crimes and misdeeds of men who were under their jurisdiction and placed children in harm’s way.”

The buildings will be renamed as follows:

McCormick Hall will be renamed MacKillop Hall in honor of St. Mary of the Cross MacKillop, an Australian nun who exposed sexual abuse of children by a priest. She died in 1909 at the age of 67. Pope Benedict XVI canonized her in 2010. She is the first Australian recognized as a saint.

Timlin House will have its name removed and Mulberry Plaza, which houses the building, will be renamed Romero Plaza in honor of the late Oscar Romero, Archbishop of San Salvador. Romero, who was murdered while saying Mass in 1980, is to be canonized by Pope Francis in October.

Hannan Hall will be renamed Giblin-Kelly Hall in honor of Brendan J. Giblin and William H. Kelly Jr. Giblin was killed in a car crash while on spring break in Florida in 2006. A senior, Giblin was a co-captain of the swim team at the university. Kelly graduated from the university in 1993 and died in the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the World Trade Center. Their families and friends have kept their memories alive by supporting students at the university through scholarships.

On campus Monday night, senior Uzoma Agbasionye talked with a friend, an alumna of the university. Both said they were saddened by the findings of the grand jury report and glad to hear about the university taking action.

Agbasionye said he read the letter shortly after it went out. He was impressed with the decision to name a building after MacKillop, a whistleblower who spoke up about child sex abuse at the hands of a priest in 1870s Australia. That gesture sends a message, Agbasionye said.

“It’s a meaningful reminder of why the name was changed,” he said.

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@jon_oc on Twitter</s>(CNN) The University of Scranton, a Jesuit university in Pennsylvania, is removing the names of three bishops from school buildings in response to an ongoing sexual abuse investigation involving several Catholic leadership figures from the state.

They are scrubbing the names of Bishops Jerome D. Hannan, J. Carroll McCormick, and James C. Timlin from campus buildings, and will also be rescinding the bishops' honorary degrees.

Hannan, McCormick and Timlin were named in a stunning grand jury report detailing the coverup of credible sexual abuse accusations against more than 300 state priests and encompassing more than 1,000 child victims. According to the University, "these Bishops covered up the crimes and misdeeds of men who were under their jurisdiction and placed children in harm's way."

The name on Timlin Hall will be removed, and the area where the building stands, Mulberry Plaza, will be renamed Romero Plaza.

In a statement addressed to the community , the University said it made the choice "with sympathy for and in solidarity with victims of sexual abuse in the Diocese of Scranton."

Their names will be replaced by the names of religious leaders who fought against oppression and abuse, as well as two alums:



Read More</s>Names Of Accused Bishops To Be Removed From University Of Scranton Buildings

Officials at the University of Scranton and King's College in Wilkes-Barre, Pa. have announced that buildings once honoring now-disgraced bishops will be renamed and the bishops' honorary degrees will be revoked.

It's part of the continuing fallout in the state and around the country from last week's massive report on clergy sex abuse. As the full effect of the sweeping grand jury report comes into clearer view, many Catholic schools and universities feel like they are in the eye of the storm and are taking steps to separate themselves from the havoc that the report has spread.

Two other Pennsylvania schools are also considering renaming campus sites dedicated to bishops accused of systemically concealing decades of abuse.

And high schools are beginning to reexamine once-hallowed Catholic Church figures, too. In the Pittsburgh area, a school bearing the name of Cardinal Donald Wuerl is being renamed to have the church leader's name erased after the report accused him of reassigning priests who allegedly abused children. It was a decision made at the request of Wuerl himself.

The University of Scranton was the first in Pennsylvania to react, deciding to remove the names of three bishops from buildings. University President Scott Pilarz wrote in a letter to faculty and students at the Jesuit school that the decision was made as a way of showing "sympathy for and solidarity with victims of sexual abuse in the Diocese of Scranton.

That means new building signage. Plaques will be taken down. Maps will be reprinted. And honorary degrees will be revoked from the three Scranton bishops — Jerome Hannan, James Timlin and J. Carroll McCormick — who are accused of assisting in the cover up of more than 1,000 minors at the hands of some 300 priests across the state.

The students and faculty milling about the sleepy campus in the Pocono Mountains on a recent visit seemed to all share the same view: it was the right choice for the the school taking an early stance on the Pennsylvania report that has reverberated around the world.

"I don't think it's being disrespectful to the church," said Adam Pratt, a history professor at the University of Scranton. "What these men have done is beyond the pale. And it's not the values that we teach here at the University of Scranton."

Pratt said he's encouraged the university was the first to confront the Pennsylvania attorney general's grand jury report. Yet he hopes renaming the buildings is "part of a healing process and coming to a reckoning that I think is an important thing that we need to do as a community," he said.

Jeff Welsh, also a historian at the University of Scranton, added that removing the names will make space for the university to honor people who have contributed positively to the church.

"We're going to take away that recognition and recognize people instead who really have made a positive step forward for the Catholic Church. I think that's great," Welsh said. "I'm impressed the university took such a pro-active stance."

Welsh noted that it was not accidental that a building once dedicated to a disgraced bishop will now be named after an Australian nun who herself blew the whistle on a priest who was abusing children.

Senior Jack Prendergast, who serves in student government at the University of Scranton, said having walked past the three buildings countless times, he never stopped to question to whom the structures were devoted.

"I never put much thought into it. If someone were to ask me, I would've said, 'they're probably prestigious and well-upheld people to have their names put on a building," Prendergast said. "It's good that people have shed the light on this."

Laura Freedman, who will be a senior this year at the University of Scranton, said she was relieved to hear that the names of the accused bishops will be leaving campus.

"We're just happy that we're actually taking a stand on it and not just letting it slip under the rug kind of and trying to ignore it," said Freedman, who is Catholic, like the majority of students at this Jesuit school.

Ignoring it is what professors here are strenuously trying to avoid, as faculty scrambles to assemble a response a week before fall semester begins.

Since the report was publicly released last week, professors have been racing to update the upcoming semester's coursework and arrange 11th-hour meetings on how to teach the ugly findings of the nearly 900-page document that has battered the Catholic Church far beyond Pennsylvania.

"I'm rethinking how I'm going to start this semester just in light of what's happening in the past two weeks," Welsh said.

In the theology department, Professor Chris Haw says now with three notable bishops being symbolically expelled from campus, the report has acquired new urgency for his students.

"Our department has already started exchanging some emails about what we are going to do to, perhaps on day one, name this elephant in the room," Haw said.

Haw hopes the school's self-reflection does not end with new building names. He said holding public forums could be productive for members of the campus community who feel unresolved about the decision.

"In cases like this, some people want to become very defensive and maybe sort of trenchantly defending the church, when so many other people are saying, this is not the time for you to be defensive," Haw said. "We need to be ventilating this big time right now."

A spokesman for the Diocese of Scranton released a statement that did not take a position on the renamed buildings directly. Instead, the Diocese spokesman said the organization supports helping survivors of abuse and their families achieve healing.

The University of Scranton's administration would not agree to interviews.

But in its letter to faculty and students, the school's president said he hopes the decision will start the "long but hopeful process to rebuild trust and find peace."</s>SCRANTON, Pa. — The release of the grand jury report on sex abuse in the Catholic church has prompted some big changes in the city of Scranton.

The president of the University of Scranton announced Monday that buildings named for three former bishops of the Diocese of Scranton will be renamed.

That grand jury report alleges Bishops Jerome D. Hannan, J. Carroll McCormick, and James C. Timlin all covered up the crimes of abusive priests.

There are buildings named in honor of the three men on the university’s campus. In solidarity with the victims of this scandal, school officials now say those buildings will be given new names.

The university says it also plans to rescind any honorary degrees given to the three former bishops.

Here is the full statement from the president of the university:

The recent release of more than 1,300 pages of grand jury proceedings detailing sexual abuse by Catholic priests in Pennsylvania and failures by Church leaders in responding to these situations is justifiably generating international attention and outrage. Since the report’s release last week, the University has considered how best to respond to the deeply disturbing report and to past honors and recognition it has bestowed upon individuals named in it. Earlier today, I consulted with a group of administrators, faculty, alumni and student leaders to recommend a course of action to the Board of Trustees. This afternoon, the Board met in special session and unanimously approved our recommendations. With sympathy for and in solidarity with victims of sexual abuse in the Diocese of Scranton, The University of Scranton will rescind honorary degrees and rename campus buildings recognizing Bishops Jerome D. Hannan, J. Carroll McCormick, and James C. Timlin. As documented in the report, these Bishops covered up the crimes and misdeeds of men who were under their jurisdiction and placed children in harm’s way. Buildings previously named for these three Bishops will be renamed as follows: McCormick Hall will be renamed MacKillop Hall in honor of Saint Mary of the Cross MacKillop, an Australian nun who founded the Sisters of Saint Joseph of the Sacred Heart and who publicly exposed the sexual abuse of children by a priest. In her life, she faced persecution and excommunication, during which she was assisted by the Jesuits until later being absolved. Pope Benedict XVI named Sr. Mary Australia’s first saint in 2010. The name on Timlin House will be removed and Mulberry Plaza, the complex in which the building is located, will be renamed Romero Plaza in honor of the late Oscar Romero, Archbishop of San Salvador, who will be canonized by Pope Francis on October 14. Murdered in 1980 while saying mass in San Salvador, Archbishop Romero remains an inspiration to millions, including many on the University’s campus who have made the moving pilgrimage to El Salvador. Hannan Hall will be renamed Giblin-Kelly Hall in honor of the late Brendan J. Giblin ’06 and William H. Kelly Jr. ’93. Brendan was a graduating senior at Scranton and co-captain of the swim team when he was tragically killed while on Spring Break in Panama City. Bill worked for Bloomberg, LP in Princeton, N.J. and their affiliate, Bloomberg Tradebook LLC, in New York City. On September 11, 2001, Bill attended a conference at Windows on the World at the World Trade Center, Tower One, and was killed in the attack that destroyed those buildings. Since Bill and Brendan died, their families and friends have devotedly kept their memory alive, transforming tragedy into good in support of future students at Scranton. In choosing to honor St. MacKillop, Archbishop Romero, Brendan and Bill, we hold up the example of their lives as a reminder always to be a voice against abuse and violence no matter the cost, to champion the poor and oppressed, and to treasure the bonds of friendship and community that are at the heart of The University of Scranton. These actions are important, but the gravity of the information we now know demands even more of us. As a Catholic and Jesuit university founded by the Diocese of Scranton, The University of Scranton will strive together with the people of the Diocese and Catholics everywhere to address the difficult but necessary questions that arise from the grand jury report. As a university community, we look forward to working with the people of the Diocese to assist in facilitating discussions and reflection in the long but hopeful process to rebuild trust and find peace. In support of this initiative, the University is devoting resources to advance the programs and projects that emerge from our collaboration. Additionally, I recognize that stories from the past two weeks can trigger painful memories for members of our campus community who themselves are lifelong scars of sexual abuse. Please be assured that the staff of the Counseling Center and Campus Ministries are available to help students and that the University’s employee assistance program is always available for faculty and staff. On this journey, I ask that you pray for the healing of all victims of sexual abuse and their families and that you pray also for the people of the Diocese of Scranton and the Universal Church.</s>The University of Scranton, a Jesuit university in Pennsylvania, is removing the names of three bishops from school buildings in response to an ongoing sexual abuse investigation involving several Catholic leadership figures from the state.

They are scrubbing the names of Bishops Jerome D. Hannan, J. Carroll McCormick, and James C. Timlin from campus buildings, and will also be rescinding the bishops’ honorary degrees.

Hannan, McCormick and Timlin were named in a stunning grand jury report detailing the coverup of credible sexual abuse accusations against more than 300 state priests and encompassing more than 1,000 child victims. According to the University, “these Bishops covered up the crimes and misdeeds of men who were under their jurisdiction and placed children in harm’s way.”

In a statement addressed to the community, the University said it made the choice “with sympathy for and in solidarity with victims of sexual abuse in the Diocese of Scranton.”

Their names will be replaced by the names of religious leaders who fought against oppression and abuse, as well as two alums:
• Saint Mary of the Cross MacKillop, who according to the school “publicly exposed the sexual abuse of children by a priest”
• Oscar Romero, Archbishop of San Salvador, who was murdered while preaching in 1980
• Brendan J. Giblin and William H. Kelly Jr., two late graduates of the school.

A Jesuit university is a university run by the Jesuits, an order of Catholic priests.

Georgetown University, Loyola University and Gonzaga University are all Jesuit schools.</s>A Roman Catholic university in Pennsylvania plans to remove the names of three bishops from campus buildings, saying it is acting in solidarity with victims of child sexual abuse following the release of a grand jury report accusing church leaders of helping cover up decades of abuse by priests.

The University of Scranton said late Monday that three bishops — Jerome D. Hannan, J. Carroll McCormick, and James C. Timlin — in the local diocese were found in last week’s Pennsylvania grand jury report to have covered up crimes by priests and put children in harm’s way.

Hannan served from 1954 until his death in 1965. McCormick served from 1966 until 1983 and died in 1996. Timlin served from 1984 until 2003 and is 91 years old.

A Scranton Diocese spokesman has said Timlin would not do interviews, but pointed to the diocese’s response to the report noting that Timlin instituted a uniform response policy for allegations of abuse and established an internal review board.

The move is part of the growing fallout from a grand jury report that says a succession of church leaders helped cover up abuse by some 300 Catholic priests in Pennsylvania who victimized more than 1,000 children, and possibly many more, since the 1940s.

Pope Francis vowed Monday that “no effort must be spared” to root out sex abuse by priests and church cover-ups, but Francis gave no indication that he would sanction complicit bishops or end the Vatican culture of secrecy that has allowed the crisis to fester.

At various points in the report, it cites complaints about sexual misconduct by priests with children or teenagers that the three Scranton Diocese bishops did not act on, instead leaving the priests to continue in ministry.

Two weeks before the report was released, the Harrisburg Diocese said it would hold past church leadership accountable for the sexual abuse of children by priests and strip the names of bishops going back 70 years from church properties.

Dioceses in Pennsylvania have released lists, for the first time, of priests accused of sexual misconduct. Meanwhile, Beaver County fired a county government lawyer after a report showed that, as district attorney in the 1960s, he stopped an investigation into alleged child abuse by a priest to gain political favor from the Pittsburgh Diocese.

In Allentown, City Council voted unanimously to fire the city solicitor based on the report’s description of him, as the local diocese lawyer, in 2002 attempting to “undermine” and “discredit” a woman who had accused a priest of molesting her two decades earlier.</s>PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – The University of Scranton says they are rescinding honorary degrees of three bishops and stripping their names from campus buildings following a grand jury report which details child sexual abuse in six Pennsylvania Catholic dioceses and religious leaders’ efforts to cover it up.

Scott R. Pilarz, the university’s president, made the announcement in a letter to the university on Monday.

“With sympathy for and in solidarity with victims of sexual abuse in the Diocese of Scranton, The University of Scranton will rescind honorary degrees and rename campus buildings recognizing Bishops Jerome D. Hannan, J. Carroll McCormick, and James C. Timlin. As documented in the report, these Bishops covered up the crimes and misdeeds of men who were under their jurisdiction and placed children in harm’s way,” said Pilarz.

The university says Hannan Hall will be renamed Giblin-Kelly Hall in honor of the late Brendan J. Giblin ’06 and William H. Kelly Jr. ’93.

McCormick Hall will be renamed MacKillop Hall in honor of Saint Mary of the Cross MacKillop, an Australian nun who founded the Sisters of Saint Joseph of the Sacred Heart and who publicly exposed the sexual abuse of children by a priest.

The name on Timlin House will be removed and Mulberry Plaza, the complex in which the building is located, will be renamed Romero Plaza in honor of the late Oscar Romero, Archbishop of San Salvador, who will be canonized by Pope Francis on October 14.

Grand Jury Report Identifies 300 ‘Predator Priests’ Who Allegedly Molested More Than 1,000 Children In 6 Pennsylvania Dioceses

The Pennsylvania grand jury, convened by the state attorney general’s office in 2016, heard from dozens of witnesses and reviewed more than a half-million pages of internal documents from the Allentown, Erie, Greensburg, Harrisburg, Pittsburgh and Scranton dioceses.

The report found that in the Scranton diocese, a priest named Thomas Skotek allegedly raped a young girl, got her pregnant and arranged and abortion. In the Pittsburgh diocese, the report states that one boy was forced to strip naked and pose as Christ on the Cross for priests while taking photos of him that they added to a child porn collection that was shared on church grounds.

CLICK HERE to read more on University of Scranton’s statement.</s>SCRANTON, Pa. -- The president of the University of Scranton announced Monday that three buildings on campus named for former bishops of the Diocese of Scranton are being renamed.

This comes after the release of a grand jury report on sex abuse in the Catholic church.

That report names Bishops Jerome D. Hannan, J. Carroll McCormick, and James C. Timlin as covering up crimes of abuse in the church.

The buildings named after those bishops will be changed. Two will be renamed for saints, and the third will be named after two university students who died.

The university president made the recommendation and it was approved Monday by the board of trustees.</s>SCRANTON, Pa. (CNS) — The Jesuit-run University of Scranton announced Aug. 20 it was rescinding honorary degrees given to three former bishops of the Diocese of Scranton, and removing their names from buildings.

Jesuit Father Scott Pilarz, the university president, said the school is doing so because “these bishops covered up the crimes and misdeeds of men who were under their jurisdiction and placed children in harm’s way.”

Also, the Scranton Diocese said Aug. 17 it had begun a formal “assessment” into how one of those bishops, retired Bishop James C. Timlin, handled allegations of clergy sexual abuse during his tenure.

In a letter to the university community, Father Pilarz said the school’s actions were taken in light of the Pennsylvania grand jury report detailing clerical sex abuse claims in six Pennsylvania dioceses, including the Scranton Diocese.

Father Pilarz said he met early Aug. 20 with a group of administrators, faculty, alumni and student leaders to recommend a course of action to the university board of trustees, which unanimously approved those recommendations later that day in a special session.

Replacement names already have been chosen for those buildings where bishops’ names will be scrubbed.

“The name on Timlin House will be removed and Mulberry Plaza, the complex in which the building is located, will be renamed Romero Plaza in honor of the late Oscar Romero, archbishop of San Salvador, who will be canonized by Pope Francis on Oct. 14,” Father Pilarz said.

McCormick Hall, named for the late Scranton Bishop J. Carroll McCormick, will be renamed MacKillop Hall in honor of St. Mary MacKillop, an Australian nun who became Australia’s first saint in 2010. She founded the Sisters of St. Joseph of the Sacred Heart and publicly exposed the sexual abuse of children by a priest.

Hannan Hall, named for another deceased Scranton bishop, Jerome N. Hannan, will be renamed Giblin-Kelly Hall in honor of Brendan Giblin, a University of Scranton senior who was killed in 2006 while on spring break in Panama City, and William Kelly Jr., a 1993 alumnus who was killed in the 9/11 terror attack on the World Trade Center in New York in 2001.

Bishop Hannan was Scranton’s bishop from 1954 until his death in 1965. He was succeeded by Bishop McCormick, who served as bishop from 1966 to 1983; he died in 1996.

The Pennsylvania grand jury report went back to 1947 and found more than 1,000 abuse allegations lodged against more than 300 priests in the dioceses of Scranton, Harrisburg, Allentown, Erie, Greensburg and Pittsburgh.

“These actions are important, but the gravity of the information we now know demands even more of us,” Father Pilarz said. The university’s campus ministry, counseling center and employee assistance program will be available for students or staff “living with the lifelong scars of sexual abuse,” he added, and the school is devoting resources to collaborate with Catholics in the diocese for “discussions and reflection in the long but hopeful process to rebuild trust and find peace.”

Recommendations from the Scranton Diocese’s Independent Review Board on Bishop Timlin’s handling of abuse allegations are expected by Aug. 31, according to the diocesan statement. “Simultaneously, Bishop (Joseph C.) Bambera (of Scranton) has referred the matter to the Holy See, which has authority over Bishop Timlin’s canonical status. This is consistent with how the diocese handles all similar allegations,” it added.

“As in all cases, while these matters are under review, Bishop Timlin is not authorized to represent the Diocese of Scranton in any public events, liturgical or otherwise.”

Bishop Timlin, who turned 91 Aug. 5, served as Scranton’s bishop from 1984 to 2003. He lives in a home for retired priests run by the diocese.

Copyright ©2018 Catholic News Service / U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. Send questions about this site to cns@catholicnews.com</s>As a 2,000-year-old institution, the Catholic Church often moves at a glacial pace. It has a different perspective of time than most of modern society because of that long history across millennia, and it is deferential to its own traditions, geared to preservation rather than to change.

Universities do not have the luxury of time. Their business is the future even though they have their own histories and traditions.

So it is that the University of Scranton, a Jesuit institution, has moved quickly, decisively and correctly in response to the statewide investigative grand jury report detailing the sexual abuse of children across seven decades in six Pennsylvania Catholic dioceses, including Scranton.

That abuse clearly was accommodated and exacerbated by many bishops who sheltered rather than exposed abusers.

Although the University of Scranton is not a diocesan institution, it has honored several Scranton bishops with honorary degrees and by naming campus buildings for them.

The grand jury report implicated three Scranton bishops — Jerome D. Hannan, J. Carroll McCormick and James C. Timlin — in covering up priests’ sexual abuse of children.

Monday, U of S President the Rev. Scott R. Pilarz, S.J., consulted with representatives of the faculty, administration, alumni and student body, and brought their recommendation to the board of trustees that the university rescind the honorary degrees and rename the buildings. The board voted unanimously to do so.

McCormick Hall will be renamed for St. Mary of the Cross MacKillop, an Australian nun. She was excommunicated for insubordination after a series of conflicts with church hierarchy, including over her exposure of sexual abuse of children by a priest. She later was reinstated. St. Mary of the Cross died in 1909, demonstrating how long the church has failed to resolve one of its most grievous problems.

The university clearly has decided to move forward. Other Catholic institutions in the region should join it in setting a new tone.
The University of Scranton removes the names of three former Catholic bishops (James Timlin, J. Carroll McCormick and Jerome Hannan) implicated in a grand jury report on abuse in Pennsylvania from its campus buildings.