Most Reverend Frank J. Caggiano
Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Bridgeport
238 Jewett Avenue
Bridgeport, CT 06606
Dear Bishop Caggiano:
Let me take this opportunity to provide you with an update on the efforts we have undertaken to fulfill your mandate to provide you and the Diocese with a comprehensive, detailed and transparent investigation and report with respect to clergy sexual abuse of minors, and the Diocese’s response to that conduct, for the period 1953-present. This is a significant undertaking and we appreciate the full and enthusiastic cooperation we have received from the leadership and staff of the Diocese to date.
The scope of our undertaking is extensive, involving review of thousands of files, hundreds of thousands of individual documents, inspection of offsite locations such as Parish offices and files, the capture and review of electronically stored information, interviews with key participants, review and analysis of past and current sexual abuse and reporting policies, and upon completion of the data gathering portion of the process, reviewing, analyzing, synthesizing and reporting out our findings and conclusions.
In accordance with the foregoing we have been focused, in the initial four months of our investigation, with data collection which include the following efforts:
- Meetings and interviews with you and your leadership team, other key Diocesan officials and inspections of the diocesan headquarters and file storage areas.
- Meetings with current and former counsel for the Diocese as well as counsel for those bringing claims against the Diocese.
- Outreach to victims/survivors of clergy abuse, and the members of the Diocese, through individual meetings as well as the anticipated launch of a dedicated complaint phone line and email address by the end of March.
- Review of archival material at the Catholic Center, including Bishop and senior leadership files, legal correspondence, litigation files and previously collected data from court proceedings. All relevant files and computer files have been electronically
- The capture of electronically stored information on the Diocese email system, website, cloud storage system and personal devices.
scanned/imaged and will be electronically analyzed using criteria relevant to the scope of the investigation.
Following the data collection phase, described above, we will shortly begin the review and analysis phase of our investigation. The analysis of the data and information that has been collected is a challenge both in terms of time and efficiency. We have retained nationally recognized data-analytic experts whose software has the ability to review and analyze in a fraction of the time the massive amount of data, both electronic and paper, that human review would require.
At the conclusion of this process, we will provide to you and your parishioners a detailed, comprehensive report outlining the history of clergy sexual abuse of minors from 1953-present and the Diocese response to such abuse. I am of course always available to speak with you about our progress and the process going forward. Thank you again for the opportunity and the honor to work on a project of this importance.
Sincerely yours,
Robert L. Holzberg
