All six dioceses support probe
Two reversed stance, attorney general says
EBENSBURG, Pa. — Two Roman Catholic dioceses reversed their position on a statewide grand jury investigating sexual abuse Monday, according to state Attorney General Josh Shapiro, but one of them responded by saying it has maintained cooperation with the probe all along and lamented “the continued leak of grand jury information.”
The statements came after a closed-door hearing Monday in the Cambria County Courthouse in which Judge Norman Krumenacker III presided. He is the supervising judge for the 40th statewide grand jury.
Mr. Shapiro said in a statement Monday: “Today, in a reversal of their position, the bishops and dioceses of Greensburg and Harrisburg agreed to make public the results of a grand jury investigation of widespread sexual abuse within the Catholic Church. I commend Bishop [Edward C.] Malesic and Bishop [Ronald W.] Gainer for
doing the right thing.”
He said all dioceses now “support the release of the investigation’s findings and results.”
Mr. Shapiro also said he expected to be able to comment on the wide-ranging grand jury investigation by the end of June, adding that the only thing that could “stop these findings from becoming public at that time is if one of the bishops or dioceses would seek to delay or prevent this public accounting.”
It was not clear what precisely was at issue at the hearing. No written court motions or filings were publicly available, leaving only generalized news releases.
The hearing came just days after statements from the dioceses of Greensburg and Harrisburg calling for due process with the imminent release of a grand jury report. The Harrisburg diocese reiterated that stance late Monday.
“The Diocese of Harrisburg is, and has been, fully cooperating with the office of the attorney general,” its statement said. The diocese “has strongly supported the release of the grand jury report and believe it’s important that we get this report right.”
“We are troubled by the continued leak of grand jury information,” the statement continued, referring to Mr. Shapiro’s news release Monday.
The grand jury has been meeting since July 2016 in Allegheny County, hearing evidence into the alleged sexual abuse by priests and others associated with the Catholic Church over the past seven decades. So far, one priest each from Greensburg and Erie has been indicted.
The Pennsylvania Attorney General’s office has subpoenaed records from six dioceses: Pittsburgh, Greensburg, Harrisburg, Erie, Allentown and Scranton.
Two of the leading investigators — Daniel Dye, deputy attorney general, and Stephen Adametz, special agent for the office of the attorney general — emerged from the hearing Monday.
Neither they nor others leaving the meeting would say what the hours-long proceeding was about. Mr. Adametz left with a handcart loaded with multiple boxes of documents.
The statement from the attorney general noted: “Victims of this sexual abuse deserve the right to tell their stories to the people of Pennsylvania.”
On Sunday, Mr. Shapiro issued another statement that commended Pittsburgh Bishop David Zubik for joining other bishops in “agreeing to not mount any challenge which would silence the voices of victims of sexual abuse in Pennsylvania.”
The diocese issued a response Monday: “Throughout this investigation, the Diocese of Pittsburgh has never acted or even considered taking action to silence the voices of victims. With regard to the grand jury report, our only concern is to make sure the process is conducted fairly. We welcome the attorney general’s commitment to do so.”
Bishop Zubik said last week he doesn’t object to the report’s release but wants the Pittsburgh diocese to have a chance to review it first.
There is some precedent for this: Individuals named in a 2016 report into abuse in the Diocese of AltoonaJohnstown had an opportunity to review and file a written response to their portions of the report in tandem to its public release.