The Catholic Church in Hawaii is “committed to compassionate resolution and justice for those who were victims of abuse,” said Msgr. Gary Secor, vicar general for the Diocese of Honolulu, Aug. 14 in a statement responding to the release that day of a Pennsylvania grand jury report on clergy sexual abuse in six of the state’s eight dioceses.
One of the priests named in the report, the late Father Robert Hannon, was a priest of the Diocese of Erie, Pa., who was incardinated into the Diocese of Honolulu in 1984. He retired here in 1990 and died in 2006. He admitted to abusing at least 20 youth. One of the incidents of abuse was reported to have taken place in Hawaii.
“This report represents a very dark period for the Catholic Church when members of the clergy sexually abused children, including here in Hawaii,” Msgr. Secor said.
The vicar general said the diocese remains committed to the “continued implementation of multi-level internal safeguards, training programs and mandated reporting procedures to prevent this type of abuse from happening again.”
A Pennsylvania report linked 301 priests with sexual abuse claims involving more than 1,000 victims.