State attorney general petitions pope
Asks pontiff to help get abuse report released
HARRISBURG — Amid a still-boiling legal battle over a secret grand jury report into alleged Catholic clergy sex abuse across Pennsylvania, Attorney General Josh Shapiro has appealed to Pope Francis to step in and persuade opponents to drop their bid to block the report’s release.
“Credible reports indicate that at least two leaders of the Catholic Church in Pennsylvania — while not directly challenging the release of this report in court — are behind these efforts to silence the victims and avoid accountability,” Mr. Shapiro wrote to the pontiff this week. “Your Holiness, I respectfully request that you direct church leaders to follow the path you charted ... and abandon their destructive efforts to silence the survivors.”
The attorney general’s letter did not elaborate on the reports or indicate which “leaders” are behind the efforts to suppress the document Mr. Shapiro says chronicles “widespread sexual abuse of children and a systemic coverup by leaders” in six Catholic dioceses in the state. His spokesman, Joe Grace, declined to provide additional detail, saying
the letter, sent Wednesday, “speaks for itself.”
Greg Burke, a spokesman for the pope, said it was too early for the Vatican to comment.
Bishops from the six dioceseshave previously claimed theyare not the petitioners objecting to the report’s release, as did a representative for Philadelphia Archbishop CharlesJ. Chaput.
On Thursday, The Philadelphia Inquirer and Daily News and Pittsburgh PostGazette reached out to every diocese in the state and asked about Mr. Shapiro’s assertions that leaders are backing the fight to limit the report’s release. Spokespersons from the Philadelphia, Erie and Harrisburg dioceses largely reiterated their prior statements about the case; the other dioceses did not comment.
Justin Danilewitz, a lawyer representing several clergy members seeking changes to the report, blasted Mr. Shapiro’s letter as an “inappropriate” attempt to pressure his clients by appealing to their supervisors and turn the public against them. He said his clients are trying to exercise their constitutional rights, “not trying to silence victims.
Mr. Shapiro’s plea to the worldwide leader of the Catholic church comes as the state Supreme Court weighs if the report should be made public, when and in what form. The delays have left some victims fretting that their voices will ultimately be silenced once again.
While the petitioners fighting Mr. Shapiro’s stated plan to release the document include a group of still unnamed current and former clergy members, Francis has spoken in recent years of the need for the church to reckon with its history, end child sexual abuse and support survivors.
Mr. Shapiro, in his letter, reminded Francis of some of those remarks. He wrote that the two met in September 2015, when the pope visited the St. Charles Borromeo Seminary in Wynnewood, outside of Philadelphia.
“It was a high honor to receive greetings and blessings from you,” wrote Mr. Shapiro, who is not Catholic. “I am a great admirer of you and your work — especially your commitment to fighting for the defenseless.”
During that visit, Francis met privately with five people who had been sexually abused by priests, teachers or family members. He also delivered public remarks, during which he said “God weeps” over such abuse.
“The crimes and sins of sexual abuse of minors may no longer be kept secret,” the pope said in a speech that has since been quoted by a victim’s attorney advocating for the report’s release.
Despite his public claims of a zero-tolerance policy for sexual abuse, Francis has drawn ire from some victims and advocates who say he has nevertheless continued to promote or retain bishops despite accusations they failed to advocate for children in the past. They point, for example, to Francis’ decision to appoint a Chilean bishop accused of covering up sexual abuse. The pope has since accepted the bishop’s resignation.
It was not immediately clear if the pope had seen Mr. Shapiro’s letter. The attorney general’s office sent it by mail Wednesday and followed up Thursday with faxes and emails to highranking Vatican officials.
Though not expected to lead to charges, the grand jury report, more than 800 pages long, is believed to name dozens of people from the dioceses of Pittsburgh, Allentown, Erie, Greensburg, Harrisburg. and Scranton who were aware of, or participated in, child sexual abuse over decades.
The two Pennsylvania dioceses not covered by the probe — Altoona-Johnstown and the Archdiocese of Philadelphia — had been scrutinized in past investigations.
Mr. Shapiro had been expected to release the report to thepublic last month. But current and former clergy members — whose names remain under seal — appealed to the state Supreme Court, saying making the allegations public violated their constitutional rights to protect their reputations and of due process. The seven-member court then placed a temporary stay on the report’s release to sort throughthe arguments.
Much of the legal battle has played out in secret and under court seal. Only recently did the justices allow some case-related documents to be made public, although in redacted form.
Ten media organizations, including the Inquirer and Daily News and the Post-Gazette, have asked the court for access to the full report and the names of the petitioners seeking to block its release.
Post-Gazette staff writer Peter Smith contributed.