Victims' Rights Group Critical of Award Given to Owensboro Bishop

Louisville-area advocates for victims of sexual abuse are criticizing a Jefferson County group for honoring Owensboro Bishop William Medley. The Courier-Journal reports Medley was one of seven recipients of the annual “Salute to Catholic Alumni Dinner”, which raises money to help poor students pay tuition at Catholic schools.

The Louisville-area “Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests”—or SNAP--has been critical of Medley, who served 27 years as a priest in the Archdiocese of Louisville before becoming head of the Diocese of Owensboro.

During that time, Medley helped craft church policy that allowed priests who had abused children to return to ministry, sometimes with restrictions, if the church deemed them to be rehabilitated and under safe supervision. In most cases, church parishioners weren’t aware of the abuse allegations against their new priests.

Medley’s office said the Bishop would not comment on the latest criticism by SNAP.