The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops elected conservative Archbishop Paul S. Coakley of Oklahoma City as its new president Nov. 11. The move by the American Catholic Church drew both calls for unity from the new leader and a swift and furious condemnation from clergy abuse survivor networks.
During their Plenary Assembly in Baltimore, the bishops selected Coakley to succeed Archbishop Timothy Broglio. In a statement reported by Vatican News, Coakley, 70, said he was “humbled” by the election. He asked for prayers that he “may be a faithful steward and a wise servant of unity and communion with our Holy Father, Pope Leo, and with my brother bishops and priests.”
However, not everyone is buying the calls for unity.
Coakley’s election was immediately met with a damning rebuke from the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests.
In a press release issued moments after the vote, SNAP called Coakley “a known enabler of abusive priests” and said survivors are “furious” that the American Catholic Church and its bishops will now “take direction from a man with a history of minimizing criminal sexual assault and endangering the public.”
SNAP’s statement detailed several specific cases during Coakley’s tenure in Oklahoma City.
The first incident is Coakley’s assignment of Father José Davila to a parish five years after Davila had pleaded guilty to three counts of sexual battery against a 19-year-old woman.
In a statement at the time, Coakley argued Davila had “accepted the consequences of his lack of judgement” and understood his “actions were perceived as inappropriate.” Coakley only removed Davila after widespread public outcry and outrage from survivor advocacy groups.
The survivor network also cited the cases of two other priests.
Father Benjamin Zoeller was defrocked in 2011 for alleged child abuse. A victim later contacted Coakley’s archdiocese in 2018 “shocked and outraged” after learning that Zoeller was permitted to serve as a volunteer in one of Coakley’s parishes.
Father James Mickus was sued by a victim in 2002 for rape and sexual abuse. Mickus was investigated, reinstated and served at more than a dozen parishes. Under Coakley’s leadership, Mickus served for nearly eight more years before being removed in 2018.
“Today’s announcement only reinforces what we already know: Survivors waiting for justice should not look to the USCCB,” said Peter Isely, a spokesperson for SNAP. “Only public exposure and action on the part of civil society will force the U.S. bishops to remove offenders and disclose the vast amount of criminal evidence of rape and sexual assault in their possession.”
Archbishop Coakley will lead the conference for a three-year term.