Catholic Church Covered Up Child Sex Abuse in Pennsylvania for Decades, Grand Jury Says
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
Bishops and other leaders of the Roman Catholic Church in Pennsylvania covered up child sexual abuse by hundreds of priests over a period of 70 years, persuading victims not to report the abuse and police officers not to investigate it, according to a report issued by a grand jury on Tuesday.
The report, which says there were more than 1,000 identifiable victims and covered six of the state’s eight Catholic dioceses, is the broadest examination yet by a government agency in the United States of child sexual abuse in the Catholic Church. There have been ten previous reports by grand juries and attorneys general in the United States, according to the research and advocacy group BishopAccountability.org, but those examined single dioceses or counties.
The report catalogs horrific instances of abuse, including a priest who raped a young girl in the hospital after she had her tonsils out, and another priest who was allowed to stay in ministry after impregnating a 17-year-old girl, forging a signature on a marriage certificate and then divorcing the girl.
“Despite some institutional reform, individual leaders of the church have largely escaped public accountability,” the grand jury wrote. “Priests were raping little boys and girls, and the men of God who were responsible for them not only did nothing; they hid it all. For decades.”
The grand jury added that the church officials named in their report have been protected, and some have been promoted. “Until that changes, we think it is too early to close the book on the Catholic Church sex scandal,” the jury wrote.
The Pennsylvania grand jury report comes as the sex abuse scandal in the church has reached a new stage, with calls to discipline bishops who sexually abused younger priests and seminarians, or who have covered up for abusive colleagues.
Catholics are calling for independent investigations into why Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, the former archbishop of Washington, was advanced up the hierarchy despite warnings to his superiors in Rome and fellow bishops that he had molested seminarians and young priests. Cardinal McCarrick resigned in July over allegations of sexually abusing minors , but since then priests in the diocese of Lincoln, Nebraska , and seminarians in Boston and elsewhere have publicly accused their superiors of turning a blind eye to sexual misconduct.
Little if any of the evidence unearthed by the report is likely to lead to any criminal charges. The Pennsylvania State Legislature has so far resisted calls to lift the statute of limitation that has prevented childhood victims from filing civil lawsuits against the church after they turn 30. For many victims, it has taken decades to gain the courage to speak about the abuse, long past when the law would allow them to sue.
Please stay on topic. This seed is a discussion of sexual abuse in the Roman Catholic Church, specifically Pennsylvania. It is NOT about President Trump, other politicians, government politics, or your disdain of those who choose to believe in a higher being . Thank you.
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Reply by Catholic League
Bill Donohue
PA GRAND JURY REPORT BASED ON ACCUSATIONS
Catholic League president Bill Donohue comments on the Pennsylvania grand jury report on six dioceses in Pennsylvania:
The grand jury report will attract the prurient interest of the public, much to the delight of the media. But when the dust settles, what counts are the facts.
The media are saying that the report will name “more than 300 predator priests.” Not true.
Catholics want the guilty to pay, but any fair-minded person also wants due process for the accused. In this crazed #MeToo environment, that is not easy, and this is doubly true when the accused are Catholic priests.
Those awaiting a grand jury report on the sexual abuse of minors in the public schools, or among the clergy of other religions, shouldn’t hold their breath. It will never happen.
This is akin to doing an investigation of crime in low-income minority neighborhoods, allowing white-collar crimes committed in the suburbs to go scot-free, and then concluding non-whites to be criminally prone. It is a scam.
Please tell Bill Donohue, a Roman Catholic who is divorced, to read the NYT article in comment 10. Thanks.
I do wonder what the purpose is in going back 70 years to find the accused.
Child sexual abuse is widespread. I wonder what we would find if we looked back 70 years into some of the nation's largest school systems.
That's an excellent discussion in which I would participate, so feel free to seed your own article about that topic. Until you do, please refrain from derailing my seed. Thanks!
I wouldnt call that derailing your seed.
What you would or wouldn't call it does not matter, John. When I seeded this NYT article yesterday, I deliberately included the following in my introduction so no one would misunderstand the topic:
Please stay on topic. This seed is a discussion of sexual abuse in the Roman Catholic Church, specifically Pennsylvania.
This portion of your comment 5 is definitely a derail:
I welcome everyone's on-topic comments, but I will no longer permit derails on my seeds.
If they have to go back far, they should. I don't care if any of the molesters are old, find them and throw them into gen pop.
Child rape has only started getting reported quite recently. I'm only in my fifties and even when I was a kid you didn't dare accuse any adult of anything, adults stuck together. Children were raped with impunity for centuries, and the CC basically institutionalized it. Most religions are simply a waste of time, but if you support the CC, you are a defender of child rapists. Catholics don't see it this way, of course, but there's no getting around it.
You'd have to be nuts to leave a kid alone with a priest or a Boy Scout leader.
Related article:
Another NYT article:
Church Covered Up Child Sex Abuse In Pennsylvania For Decades
A horrible side effect of organized religion.
these are religious leaders who are looked up to for guidance and advice, on morality among other issues, yet they are held unaccountable as "speakers" for God for these disgusting and despicable acts they've committed.
Protected, promoted and still will be held in high regard as religious leaders.
This is simply shameful - they should most definitely be held accountable and have criminal charges filed against them, prosecuted etc. Yet, nothing will happen (most likely in most cases) and their lives will go on as religious leaders who are "speakers" for God. Interesting, that the religious still want to claim the higher moral ground .... just for being religious.