Pope Francis has been hit with a new wave of abuse allegations against priests. Photo / AP
Pope Francis has been hit with a new wave of abuse allegations against priests. Photo / AP
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has released a sweeping grand jury report on sex abuse in the Catholic Church, listing hundreds of accused clergy and detailing 70 years of misconduct and church response across the state.
The release is the culmination of an 18-month probe, led by state Attorney-General Josh Shapiro, on six of the state's eight dioceses - Harrisburg, Pittsburgh, Allentown, Scranton, Erie and Greensburg - and follows other state grand jury reports that revealed abuse and coverups in two other dioceses.
Some details and names that might reveal the 300 clergy listed have been redacted from the report. Legal challenges by clergy delayed the report's release, after some said it is a violation of their constitutional rights. Pennsylvania's Supreme Court ruled last month that the report must be released but with some redaction.
The report has helped renew a crisis many in the church thought and hoped had ended nearly 20 years ago after the scandal erupted in Boston.
But recent abuse-related scandals, from Chile to Australia, have reopened wounding questions about accountability and whether church officials are still covering up crimes at the highest levels.
The new wave of allegations has called Pope Francis's handling of abuse into question as many Catholics look to him to help the church regain its credibility. The Pope's track record has been mixed, something some outsiders attribute to his learning curve or shortcomings and others chalk up to resistance from a notoriously change-averse institution.
The Pennsylvania grand jury report follows the resignation last month of Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, a towering figure in the US church.
The former archbishop of Washington, DC, was accused of sexually abusing minors and adults for decades. Both have further polarised the church on homosexuality, celibacy and whether laypeople should have more power. It has also triggered debate about whether statutes of limitations should be expanded.
"We're dealing with a long-term struggle not only about the meaning of justice, but about the meaning of memory," said Jason Berry, a reporter and author who has covered the sexual abuse crisis for decades. "And how honest church has been about this crisis. Most bishops, besides apologies, have not been on the cutting edge of change."
Church officials have already begun bracing for the aftermath of the report. Yesterday, Washington Archbishop Cardinal Donald Wuerl, former long-time leader of the Diocese of Pittsburgh, warned his priests in a letter that the probe will be "profoundly disturbing."
Washington Archbishop Cardinal Donald Wuerl said the probe will be "profoundly disturbing." Photo / AP file
Harrisburg's bishop Ronald Gainer said earlier this month that he'd remove the names of all accused bishops from diocesan buildings and rooms. Erie Bishop Lawrence Persico last month told PennLive.com, a digital news site based in central Pennsylvania, that the report will be "sobering" and "is rather graphic."
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported that one lawyer's filling suggests "more than 90 'offenders' will be listed" in Wuerl's former diocese. Wuerl is one of Pope Francis' closest US advisers, and sits on the Vatican's bishop oversight committee. The bishop is expected to retire in the next few years.
"While I expect that this report will be critical of some of my actions" in Pittsburgh, "I believe the report also confirms that I acted with diligence," Wuerl wrote to Washington's clergy.
The looming question is who the report will implicate. The Post-Gazette reported that it reveals not just "how bishops handled or mishandled cases of abusive priests, but whether they were aided by community and political leaders in alleged obstruction of justice."
The report will recommend systemic changes and can be a catalyst for criminal charges, some involved said; two priests have been charged since the probe began.
