UNITED STATES
Rome Reports
[with video]
Boston. January 2002
There are two recurring elements in the sexual abuse crisis: a priest who abuses children and a bishop who did not immediately remove him from contact with children.
On January 6, 2002, the Boston Globe published the story of father John Geoghan, who for 30 years had abused more than 130 children. Boston Cardinal Bernard Law thought the problem could be solved by moving him to a new parish after abuse cases. So John Geoghan was transferred to half a dozen parishes. At each new parish, parents complained to the archdiocese that the priest had abused children.
Geoghan’s case triggered a wave of complaints against other American bishops who had also put avoidance of scandal above the safety of children.
The Pope summoned all American cardinals to the Vatican to brief him on the sexual abuse scandals.
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