PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Penn Live
9/21/2005, 6:42 p.m. ET
By JANICE PODSADA
The Associated Press
(AP) — Some of the findings of a grand jury report issued Wednesday on sexual abuse by priests in the Philadelphia Archdiocese, and the church's response, as contained in documents released the same day by the archdiocese:
FINDING
The church's top leaders, including the two last archbishops, Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua and Cardinal John Krol, engaged in a systematic effort to cover up allegations of child molestation and abuse by priests.
CHURCH RESPONSE
The archdiocese did not engage in any cover-up. The grand jury focused on "lurid details" and events in the distant past and made "outlandish accusations" against the church, engaging in a "mean-spirited diatribe" against the church.
FINDING
Victims of sexual abuse by priests were greeted by disdain and derision by church authorities. Instead of viewing their allegations as credible, church authorities often questioned their motives. Victims were sometimes bullied, belittled and intimidated and subjected to ruthless investigation by church authorities.