Rhode Island Diocese Attempts to Soften the Blow of Anticipated Report by the State’s Attorney General
As Attorney General Peter Neronha’s long-awaited report on clergy sexual abuse is expected to drop imminently, Catholic Bishop Bruce A. Lewandowski issued a public letter seeking to prepare parishioners for its findings and offering an apology to survivors.
In a January 2026 letter, Catholic Bishop Bruce Lewandowski addressed the anticipated release of the Attorney General of Rhode Island’s report detailing a six-year-and-a-half year review of clergy sexual abuse in the state’s only Catholic diocese. A confidential copy of the report was provided to the Diocese in advance of its imminent public release. The Diocese reacted in a typically defensive and dismissive manner—characterizing the problem as the relic of a sad past and pointing out that it had publicly reported many of the cases over the years.
But Attorney General Neronha’s investigation points to systemic failures and wrongdoing by current Church leaders that neither the Diocese nor the Church writ-large can so easily dismiss. In a January 7th interview, he described how the report documents express that Church officials in Rhode Island allowed dozens of priests to sexually abuse hundreds of children by shuffling pedophile priests from parish to parish and by covering up credible abuse allegations. “This report will not do anything to cause Catholics to think well about their religion and may shake their faith," Neronha continued saying, "I know that I don't walk into a Catholic church and look at what I see there the same way as I once did. It certainly has shaken my faith."
For many years, survivors of childhood sexual abuse in Rhode Island have carried the weight of their trauma in silence. They have been denied justice by a legal system that favored institutional protection. In recent months, however, momentum has gathered behind proposed changes to the Rhode Island General Laws. Bills like Senate Bill 0739 and House Bill 5909 seek to eliminate the civil statute of limitations entirely for causes of action based on sexual abuse. Survivors hope the release of the Attorney General’s report will help push the proposed legislation into law and expose a full list of all credibly accused priests and the details about the decades of cover-up.
According to Survivor Advocate, Ann Webb, the report represents the first comprehensive, organized accounting of the Diocese’s role in enabling clergy abuse in Rhode Island. Webb praised the Attorney General’s office for its handling of the investigation and for treating survivors with dignity and respect.
To Webb, one first survivors to publicly share her story during House and Senate hearings on legislation to eliminate time limits for lawsuits against abusers and the institutions that enabled them, found Bishop Lewandowski’s apology letter was an insulting empty gesture. Like many others, Webb believes that the Church cannot move forward until it tells the truth about the scope of what happened in the past, acknowledges the role of current Church leaders, holds those responsible accountable and makes restitution to many who have endured lifelong pain based on the Church’s conduct. The Church’s own teachings demand no less.
Rhode Island is widely recognized as the “most Catholic state,” as Catholic make up nearly half the state’s population. The Church remains a powerful political force that has fought efforts to reform the statute of limitations for child sex abuse claims. Survivors hope that Attorney General Lewandowski’s report will finally convince resistant legislators to allow survivors to seek long-delayed justice.
Grant & Eisenhofer represents survivors of clergy abuse and other forms of child sex abuse in civil lawsuits against the Catholic Church and other powerful institutional enablers.
