BishopAccountability.org
	Protesters at Saturday Mass Urge More Scrutiny By Andrew McGill Morning Call March 5, 2011 http://articles.mcall.com/2011-03-05/news/mc-allentown-priest-abuse-protest-20110305_1_survivors-network-priests-report-abuse Some parishioners took the pamphlets. Some even thanked the protesters lining the sidewalk Saturday outside the Cathedral Church of St. Catharine of Siena in Allentown. But most just walked by. And many fired back at the half-dozen men and women with signs that read "Church officials covered up sexual abuse." "Are you bashing Catholics?" one woman asked over her shoulder, marching up the cathedral steps. "Well, the Boy Scouts abused children too. I think priests get a bad rap." Barbara Blaine, founder and president of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, is used to angry responses. A Chicago resident, Blaine said she felt compelled to help organize the protest after reading the recent Philadelphia grand jury report that resulted in charges against three priests and a Catholic school teacher. That report also indicated that retired Bishop Edward Cullen, former head of the Allentown Diocese, helped conceal the reason one of those accused priests was reassigned in 1993. At the time, Cullen was vicar for administration in the Philadelphia Archdiocese. Handing out petitions before Saturday's 4:15 p.m. Mass, the protesters named 22 priests they say abused children in the Allentown Diocese, and called on Bishop John O. Barres to list the names of confessed and credibly accused clerics. Asking passers-by to "pray for the children," the activists urged parishioners to contact Barres and demand the diocese be more transparent. Already done, diocese spokesman Matt Kerr said: The church administration has worked diligently to report abuse to prosecutors and keep suspects away from children. "I don't believe there are any credibly accused priests who are in ministry," he said in a phone interview Saturday night. "We removed them long ago." Law enforcement officials have advised the diocese against publishing a list of accused priests, Kerr added. andrew.mcgill@mcall.com or 610-820-6533
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