Church hid 70 years of child sex abuse by US priests, says report
THOUSANDS of children were molested by hundreds of “predator” priests in Pennsylvania over 70 years while senior Catholic church officials and the Vatican took part in a “systematic” coverup, according to a report.
It identified 301 clergymen and more than 1,000 victims but said that the “real number” of abused children might be “in the thousands” as records had been lost and some victims were too afraid to come forward. Publication of the 884-page report, compiled by a grand jury, followed a two-year investigation into abuses in six dioceses in Pennsylvania, and victims wept as details were revealed at a press conference. Josh Shapiro, the state’s attorney general, said it was the most comprehensive report on Catholic clergy sex abuse in American history.
Mr Shapiro said that in Pennsylvania faith had been “weaponised” to keep victims silent. He said: “Children were taught that this abuse was not only normal but that it was holy.
“It was child sexual abuse, including rape, committed by grown men – priests – against children.”
One priest molested five sisters over a period of more than 10 years and another was said to have raped a girl who was in hospital to have her tonsils removed. Priests who had molested children were routinely moved from parish to parish, the report said.
Cardinal Donald Wuerl, the former bishop of Pittsburgh, was criticised for what the report said was his part in the concealment of sexual abuse. In a statement the cardinal said he had “acted with diligence, with concern for the victims, and to prevent future acts of abuse”.
Many of the priests identified are now dead.