Ronald William Gainer

Ban on female students in contact sports

On July 1, 2014, Gainer introduced a new policy prohibiting girls at Catholic schools in the Diocese of Harrisburg from participating in wrestling, tackle football, and tackle rugby whether or not they desire to compete in girls-only or co-ed matches.^[8] The policy goes on to require male wrestlers to forfeit matches against female opponents, but does not bar tackle football or rugby teams from playing against teams which may have a girl on their team.^[8] According to the policy, the ban applies to sports "...that involve substantial and potentially immodest physical contact".^[8]

Response to clergy sex abuse and grand jury investigation

In early 2016, a grand jury investigation, led by Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro, began an inquiry into sexual abuse by Catholic clergy in six Pennsylvania dioceses: Harrisburg, Allentown, Scranton, Pittsburgh, Greensburg, and Erie.^[9] The Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown and the Archdiocese of Philadelphia were not included, as they had been the subjects of earlier investigations.^[9]

According to The Philadelphia Inquirer, in 2017 the Diocese of Harrisburg and the Diocese of Greensburg attempted to shut down the grand jury investigation.^[10][11]

On July 27, 2018, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ordered that a redacted copy of the grand jury report be released to the public; this release is anticipated to occur in early August 2018.^[12][11]

On August 1, 2018, Bishop Gainer disclosed the names of 71 past and present clergy affiliated with the Diocese of Harrisburg who were accused of sexually abusing children.^[13][14] Among these 71, the majority are already deceased, and some were accused only after their deaths. Gainer explained the rationale for the release of this information: "While these men are not a risk to the public, I still felt compelled to release their names in an effort to confirm for those brave survivors... that we have heard their cries and taken them seriously."^[14] Gainer also stated that prior to 2002, some lawsuits had been settled using confidentiality clauses, and he was now releasing all victims from such confidentiality agreements.^[14]

Immediately following the disclosure, Gainer announced that the name of every man who had served as a bishop in the Diocese of Harrisburg since 1947 would be removed from any building or room named in their honor, due to their failure to protect victims from abuse.^[14]