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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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.
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.