YARDLEY (PA)
Times-Leader
Associated Press
YARDLEY, Pa. - Angry parishioners confronted a Bucks County Catholic priest who a grand jury said helped cover up sexual abuse by priests, and some called for his removal.
"If you can't stand against these actions as a leader, then I can't have you as our leader," a woman struggling to hold back tears told Monsignor Samuel E. Shoemaker.
She was among more than 400 people packed into St. Ignatius of Antioch Church, where Shoemaker had been pastor for about 17 years.
Shoemaker wasn't accused of abusing children himself, but the 418-page grand jury report said he had a role in covering up the deeds of at least eight of 28 priests whose acts of sexual perversion were detailed in the report. "I am sincerely sorry for anything I have done or didn't do that might have contributed to this situation," he told the crowd.