By Bishop Paul S. Loverde

(From the issue of 6/12/03)

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Most people tend to believe what they read. Since this is so, I would like to clarify a news story which appeared in The New York Times on Friday, June 13, 2003, entitled "Bishops Uneasy on Whom to Protect." In that article, a statement was made, which is completely false. The statement read: "In Arlington, Va., review board members resigned when Bishop Paul S. Loverde disregarded their recommendations to remove an accused abuser from ministry."

I immediately took steps to correct this erroneous statement, contacting a number of people at The New York Times, including the Executive Editor and the author of the article Laurie Goodstein. I stated that no such incident has ever occurred in the Diocese of Arlington but that a similar incident has been reported to have occurred in the Diocese of Richmond.

In the Corrections section of The New York Times, dated Monday, June 16, 2003, the following announcement was printed. "An article on Friday about conflicting pressures on Roman Catholic bishops over publicizing accusations of sexual abuse misidentified a diocese where a bishop reportedly disregarded a review board’s recommendation to remove an accused abuser from the ministry. The diocese, in Virginia, was Richmond, not Arlington; the bishop was Walter F. Sullivan, not Paul S. Loverde."

I appreciate the correction made by The New York Times and wanted you, the people of this diocese, to know the truth in this matter.

Faithfully in Christ,

Most Reverend Paul S. Loverde

Bishop of Arlington