Tuesday Release of Diocese of Bridgeport Accountability Report

Retired Connecticut Superior Court Judge Robert Holzberg, who has led an independent investigation into the handling of the abuse crisis by the Diocese of Bridgeport, has announced that he will release a report on his findings on Tuesday, October 1st at 11:00 am in a press conference.

The conference will be streamed on the Diocese of Bridgeport’s Facebook page, as well as the Diocesan website.

The Judge will present a summary of the report detailing the findings of the investigation at the press conference. The final written report will be published in its entirety online on the diocesan website and a summary of the extensive document will be provided in the October issue of Fairfield County Catholic.

Bishop Frank J. Caggiano who commissioned the report in October 2018 in response to the abuse crisis, stressed the importance of this report to the many that have been affected by the crisis. “The abuse crisis has wounded the entire Church, first and foremost the victims and their families but in a larger sense all those affected by the abuse. That includes our many good and faithful priests,” said Bishop Caggiano. In order to better prepare for the release of this information, the Judge met with both the priests and the survivor group last week and presented a high level summary of its findings.

The report was originally expected to be released in the spring of 2019 but the large volume of records and scope of interviews required more time.

It will offer a complete and comprehensive accounting of the sexual abuse of minors by clergy in the Diocese of Bridgeport, along with the response of diocesan leadership since the inception of the diocese in 1953.