Adult men disguised as God force their penises into 1,000 defenseless children – ripping apart their skin, souls and minds. Then, other adult men, also disguised as God and in positions of authority, cover it up. This is in essence what the just-released Pennsylvania Grand Jury Report reveals.
Please God, let this report be a tipping point.
The report investigates clergy child sex abuse and its cover up in six Catholic dioceses has just been released. It covers Allentown; Erie; Greensburg; Harrisburg; Pittsburgh; Scranton. Philadelphia and Altoona were were the subject of earlier Grand Jury Reports.
Despite the horrifying details it revealed, too little has changed since the Philadelphia Grand Jury Report. Our post could be rewritten today. In 2002, Catholics were warned by Boston Globe headlines breaking the epic priest abuse scandal there. But back then everyone thought it was isolated. Now we know better. It’s global and deep.
Child sex abuse can and does happen anywhere. It will flourish where its sheltered by ignorance, denial and self-serving interests. The Catholic Church has become one of its best anywheres.
Some Catholics think the media is unfair. Others don’t know what to do. And then, there are those just counting the minutes until Mass is over.
Be smart. Be Catholic (clericalism-free and Christ-like). Be present. Read the report.
After you’ve thrown up dinner, call your state rep. Demand a civil window for victims whose abuse falls outside the statute of limitations. Delaware and other states got one. Don’t Pennsylvania citizens deserve the same? Information from those cases will shine a light on ALL child predators (not just priests), bring some justice for survivors and protect against present and future child abuse.
If you can’t stomach the report, please read “Catholic Church Covered Up Child Sex Abuse in Pennsylvania for Decades, Grand Jury Says,” by Laurie Goodstein, The New York Times, August 14, 2018
Kathy and I thank the survivors and witnesses who cooperated with The Grand Jury Report at great personal expense. You are heroes and child protectors.
Catholics4Change supports a one-time, two-year window for survivors who were previously blocked by the civil statute of limitations.
If you agree, contact your state legislator.
The laws that need changing must include all organizations. Public schools included.
Sovereign immunity is a judicial doctrine that prevents the government or its political subdivisions, departments, and agencies from being sued without its consent.
I just went through the Scranton portion of the report. The Diocese is less than forthcoming and is still spinning the story. I am not named in the report but they reference my complaint about Robert Gibson. It is like getting hit in the stomach all over again. The Diocese of Scranton would not know how to tell the truth if God himself dictated it to them.
Michael I am very sorry they are abusing you all over again its horrible what they are doing. Those in leadership that continue to hide the truth or provide only half truths need to resign. I will be in Harrisburg lobbying for law changes and also in Baltimore in Nov. along with 5 other catholic groups to demand those that covered up or abuse resign and when the laws in Pa change I pray they go to jail.
Michael even though the hearts of many of the bishops haven’t changed know you and other survivors that come forward have spurred change in the hearts of many including myself. You show us what real courage is. Courage is strength despite pain and fear. I thankyou for all you have done and continue to do. I know it comes at a huge emotional cost.
Makes you wonder if those men are the Christians they profess to be. I really don’t know who I can trust anymore.
I have felt like leaving the Catholic Church, but I can think of many reasons to stay, and besides, I have read that the problem is worse in the Protestant Churches. I am not saying that to defend the abuse in the Catholic Church, just to state a fact.
Mark Trust Jesus fight Satan where
ever he maybe. I personally helped put a child abuser in jail. He was from a non denominational church. He had abused my spouse when he was a child.The pastor at the nondenominational church he attended confronted him but I was helped over the years with the situation by 3 priests who were very kind to me. Two took the time to talk to me for hours as I was so distraught. One of these priests arranged a meeting where Vicky was allowed to speak at our parish. I believe God puts us where he needs us so he can work thru us we just need to pray for strength and grace and to know and follow his Will.
Thanks for sharing that story, Beth.
“I have read that the problem is worse in the Protestant Churches. I am not saying that to defend the abuse in the Catholic Church, just to state a fact.”
You are defending a church that abused children and vulnerable adults. By stating a “Fact” that is specious, speculative at best, you are sweeping the complicity of leadership under the proverbial rug. You seem unable to recognize that the horrendous acts of your church need to be addressed with more than a shrug of the shoulders and a statement that “it may be worse elsewhere”. You are the worst kind of sheep following a corrupt shepherd. I left the church not only because I was raped by a priest at age 13, but because of the clueless parishioners in the pews around me that will do nothing when presented with overwhelming evidence of abuse and corruption. You are the worst kind of indolent apologist who enables the church to keep going forwarded without being held accountable. You are every bishop’s wet dream of a parishioner.
I am sorry that you were abused by a priest but you don’t understand what I am trying to say. If it is indeed worse in the other churches then there will be even more abused children and vulnerable adults. Of course I want the Catholic Church held accountable. Of course this filth needs to be stamped out. But leaving the Church is not the answer. It’s like turning your back on your parents because they were not the parents they should have been – and parents are just as likely to abuse as priests. Besides, other abuse victims remain in the Church or come back after spending time away and if it’s good enough for them it should be good enough for me too. Also, there are those priests who are falsely accused and say their bishops have left them out in the cold and surely they can’t all be lying. But this is not something you read about much in mainstream media because the media supports everything the Church is rightly opposed to. Oh yes, it is hypocritical of the Church to preach against abortion, euthanasia or gay ‘marriage’ if they protect pedophile priests and silence victims but it is just as hypocritical of the general public and the news media to jump up and down and get huffy and puffy about this scandal if they support abortion, euthanasia or gay ‘marriage’, all of which are just as contemptible to God as pedophilia.
I agree that the Church is not doing enough about the problem but I refuse to believe it is not doing anything. If you don’t believe there are priests falsely accused, may I suggest you Google “Priests falsely accused” and that should open your eyes.
I don’t think you understand what you are saying. You can cling to your theory that abuse is worse in other religions. You use the conjunction “if” which indicates you are uncertain of what you propose as fact. You go on to a simile that is tragically faulty. Leaving the church because I was raped by a priest, repeatedly, at age 13 and the church that should have protected me chose to protect him as part of their risk calculus is not at all like ” turning your back on your parents because they were not the parents they should have been”. Minimize my situation by pointing out priests who have been wrongfully accused and then throw in the trifecta of red herrings; abortion, euthanasia and gay marriage. Finally, blame the media! Tell me, Mark, did you find an old copy of Cardinal Law’s talking points from the early 1990’s? The only defense you neglected was telling me that it was my fault that I was raped.
Keep those eyes shut and your hands over your ears, Mark. Just do me a favor and push yourself away from the keyboard if you feel the urge to respond to this. I don’t want my Jesuit education to blow up in your face.
Mark the catholic church is the biggest christian church out there. The issue I believe is while it may happen other places the catholic church has documented proof it does. This proof is the files it has on every priest in every diocese. Protestant churches are not as big or may not maintain as extensive records as the catholic church. In these files they document priests being charged with abuse. Many of these charges the church has found credible but they intentionally tried to keep the cases quiet til the statue of limitations ran out and/or to prevent scandal among other things. So in many cases the church knew the priest was guilty and intentionally hid it. So what does the bishop do today? When these bishops were priests maybe they didn’t know the extent of these files. It seems only the bishop has a key to these “secret files”. You become a bishop and then you look at these files and you are like this didn’t happen on my watch there are crimes here in these files but statue of limitations has run out. The bishop knows every diocese has the same kind of records. He may love the church and not want scandal, legally nothing can be done to the predators and he may think the laities money should not go towards pay outs to victims? Kinda like Archbishop Chaput clean up the existing church. Make churches and schools safer. Report any future possible crimes etc but what about those old cases he wasn’t in the diocese when they occurred? Its not his fault but there are records. Some bishops start thinning out and shredding files. In Archbishop Chaputs case hes spending thousands if not millions lobbying against a window a window that would not be needed if the bishops had reported the predators to the police years ago. This is simplified I realize and the situation is more complex but I think every diocese needs to hand over their records. Things were not done correctly in the past and they need to own up to that and do the right thing presently despite the cost emotionally, spiritually,temporally and finacially to the church and themselves. The bishops our leaders failed us. Children’s lives were destroyed.The bishops have to surrender at the foot of the cross with humility for the good of the church and salvation of souls. There is no other way to regain trust. They need to trust Jesus he will provide. There was a lady in faith formation in the AD that retired a few years ago she asked me if we reach out to our survivors “do you think they will come back?”. That’s not the question we should be asking the question as Susan said is “what would Jesus do?” and my question to the Pope and bishops is how much do you love Jesus? are you willing to trust in him and lay your life down for him? Many need to resign, many need to go to jail but if it saves one soul or gives one person their faith back its worth it. Isn’t that why we are here? To help and lead each other to heaven? Heaven is our home not this earth and thank God for that because there is way too much suffering here.
Beth those are all very valid points but Michael seems to want me to live the Church because he was treated badly by the Church and by fellow Catholics. I respect his decision to leave – in fact, I cannot blame him really – but I think he should respect my decision to stay. John 6:68 comes to mind here;
“Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life.”
Mark I understand what you are saying. Sunday I will be at the vigil for our survivors. I invite you to come and join us.
Another Law Official report looking into the Catholic church and the crimes they have committed against children. Think I read a similar report concerning the Philadelphia Archdiocese which raised the ire of the public a few trials and convictions however the uprise was beaten down by Chaput and his PR Team and NOTHING really changed. As a matter of fact it was Chaput who tried to kill the AGs report yesterday. I was always told that if you run with a pack if dog’s you will get fleas. When will the pew sheep stop blindly following and financially supporting a church that believes its ok to hurt children; that hiding offenders is ok; denying victims the right to sue is ok. There are days I second guessed myself why I walked away from the Catholic church. Yesterday just reaffirms I was right and that nothing has really changed, the Catholic church has rotted all the way to the core.
I wouldn’t be surprised if Archbishop Chaput was against the release by the AG but can you confirm he was pressing to not have it released?
No question Chaput tried to keep report out of public eye
Archbishop Chaput’s response to the PA Grand Jury Report is topped off by a website banner that refuses to acknowledge the truth. It neglects to say the Archdiocese isn’t in the latest Grand Jury Report because its abuse and cover up was revealed in Grand Jury Reports released in 2011 and 2005. Why were two Grand Jury Reports necessary? Because the lie and cover up continued after the first investigation and report. They seem to continue today.
I want to add I was invited(being on my parishes council at the time) to a meeting and a mass at Saint Charles Seminary a year or so ago to address the child abuse scandal in the AD of Philly at the time they were also planning on filming an advertisement against the Bill that was being presented in Harrisburg. Not many people showed up for the meeting and those that did were mostly upset with the way the church was handing the issue. Foundation to Abolish Child Sex Abuse was in the front of the seminary protesting the a filming of the ad and to raise awareness At the meeting I spoke and said that I lobbied in Harrisburg and the church blocking this Bill was blocking all victims of abuse from justice. There was were lay members of the catholic lobbying group(put together I believe by the bishops in PA) there and they invited me to lobby with them. I now accept your offer. If you are serious about really helping the victims and stopping abuse lobby with me to open a window so the church gets cleaned out, kids get protected and survivors get justice. Do the right thing and stop worrying about money and reputations. Jesus died on the cross from our crimes not his and if you truly trust Jesus you know he will provide for all the the churches needs in the future. If not you are on the side of Satan.
I just saw Mike McDonald on MSNBC.He did a great job telling his story and sharing what the effects of Priestly sexual abuse had on his life. Way to goMike.
Beth- Thank YOU, and Susan and Cathy and the survivors like my brother, Jim who speak up for change and justice. I wish I had half your courage. You all have my full heart in support.
Carole I met your brother Jim a few times in Harrisburg. I was very happy to meet him in person.His posts are always very thoughtful and frank which at times have caused me to reflect and do some soul searching.When I spoke up at the Seminary meeting it was intimidating speaking to a room full of strangers but then the faces of all the survivors I have met come to mind. After that meeting a lady followed me out and thanked me for speaking the truth. I told her I have met alot of survivors and it was the right thing to do.
I just have no words right now….just intense anger and also sadness. I also believe there are many good priests and deacons and this tarnishes their ministry. Don’t know what the answers are right now, but I am grateful to have a place where I can express my feelings.
Char that means you are a healthy compassionate human being.
Pope just appointed a new bishop to take over the “secret archives” according to an article I just read. The more I read about this pope the more I think he’s the antichrist. There is a new lay website just out call “complicit clergy” pointing out the bishop that most likely need to resign. God help us. Saint Michael please help us. Mother Mary crush the head of Satan. You did it before you can do it again.
I have banged on about this since the 1970’s. I feel such bitter sweet feelings that now others see what I saw as a child. But will the roots and complex realities finally be faced? Or will gay people just be scapegoated again?
Celibacy is the smoke screen behind which it has all been hidden all these years. Gay men and homophobia are part of the issue. Gay men have been attracted to the church in large numbers, more in the past, in order to escape societies sex role demands. Celibacy was their beard and a culture of silence and fear of exposure grew up and unfortunately also gave cover to these very truncated souls who were in every case abused and become abusers.
These abusers were shielded not because the church, or even the gay men often in charge, approved, but rather because these church leaders were terrified of any scrutiny lest they too be found out for being gay and the whole house of cards would come down. As often happens they produced exactly what they feared.
Blessed scrutiny!
Only honesty about sexuality and embracing a model based on an ethic and anthropology of healthy, open sexual expression, including same sex relationships, will destroy the dark, dank places, created by fear, in which these unspeakable crimes have hidden and festered for many generations.
Lewis: I couldn’t agree more. Richard Sipe, who just recently passed away tried for many years to point out that the teachings of the Catholic church on human sexuality was a big contributor to the sexual abuse of children.i grew up in suburban Philadelphia. The priest who molested me in 1961 after serving Mass in the sacristy of the Church was the first person who gave me a class on sex education.Sex was not talked about at home. The main lesson we were taught is sex equals sin. Masturbation was a sin. Sex before marriage was a sin. Everyday normal human sexuality was a sin. I seriously doubt that these teachings have changed much. Is it any wonder that the bishops of the Church see the rape of children not as a crime but as a sin.You just go to confession or celebrate a mass of forgiveness and everything should be forgiven and forgotten. Sorry, it doesn’t work that way.
Sending alittle comfort and to our survivors………https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xYibVz16Qtc
Beth I would love to join the Virgil you speak of, but I don’t live in America. Mind you, my parish priest seems to care for the victims. In fact, a few weeks ago I thought he sounded a bit like Fr. Thomas Doyle which was a change because he usually isn’t that indigent.