The UNM Clerical Abuse Archive: An Introduction

Content Notice

This item is part of the Archdiocese of Santa Fe Institutional Abuse Collection, and it may contain descriptions of physical, emotional, sexual, and religious abuse, including abuse of minors. Other potentially sensitive topics within the collection include mental health conditions, substance abuse, and other forms of violence.

Resources are available if you or someone you know needs support for any reason.

For the National Sexual Assault Hotline, call 800-656-HOPE (4673) or go to https://hotline.rainn.org/online

For the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, call or text 988, or go to https://chat.988lifeline.org/

For the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration Helpline, call 1-800-662-4357

For crisis treatment in New Mexico: https://www.nmhealth.org/contact/crisis/

Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests resources: https://www.snapnetwork.org/resources_for_survivors

To report abuse:

  • https://archdiosf.org/report-abuse
  • https://www.reportbishopabuse.org/

To report child abuse:

  • https://www.childhelphotline.org/

Streaming Media

Document Type

Video

Publication Date

9-25-2025

Abstract

This event took place on September 25 at 4 p.m. in the Frank Waters Room located in Zimmerman Library. The Center for Southwest Research has recently released an archive dedicated to the history of child abuse within the Roman Catholic Church. In this video Panelist specialists talk about their involvement with the creation of this archive and what it means for the future of holding abusers within the Roman Catholic Church accountable for their behavior. Panelists include Patrick J Wall, Katie Holscher, Terry McKiernan and Levi Monagle

Sponsored by:

  • University Libraries Center for Southwest Research and Special Collections
  • UNM Endowed Chair of Roman Catholic Studies
  • The Envision Lab
  • Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada

UNM is the first university in the nation to hold an “abuse archive”: a collection of materials that document Catholic clerical sexual abuse. Learn about this archive from a panel of experts, as they discuss its origins, scope, and significance for both researchers and the public. The Archdiocese of Santa Fe Institutional Abuse Collection is part of University Libraries’ Center for Southwest Research and Special Collections.

PANELISTS

  • Kathleen Holscher holds the endowed chair in Roman Catholic Studies at UNM and is a historian who researches and writes about clerical sexual abuse.
  • Terry McKiernan is the founder and president of BishopAccountability.org, the world’s first and largest public library of information on the Catholic clergy abuse crisis.
  • Levi Monagle is a partner at the law firm Hall Monagle & Wallace and represents survivors of clerical sexual abuse in New Mexico. He was instrumental in the creation of the UNM archive.
  • Patrick J. Wall is a former Catholic priest and Benedictine monk. Today he works as a survivor advocate and is a world-renowned expert on the Catholic clergy abuse crisis.

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