PENNSYLVANIA
PhillyVoice
BY DANIEL CRAIG
PhillyVoice Staff
A Philadelphia city councilman of the Catholic faith made it a point to comment on the Archdiocese of Philadelphia’s efforts to push back against a piece of legislation meant to extend legal rights to child victims of sexual abuse.
On Thursday, Councilman-At-Large Bill Greenlee said a recent report about some Catholic state legislators being called out by their local parishes for supporting the bill made “the few hairs still on my head stand up.”
House Bill 1947 would allow people who claim they were sexually abused as kids to bring civil lawsuits until they turn 50, up from the current age limit of 30, and would prevent institutions from claiming immunity if they are found to have acted in gross negligence. It passed the House by a vote of 180-15 in April and now awaits Senate action.
This week, the Associated Press reported that several state representatives were essentially shamed by their churches because of their vote. Some say they were called out directly by their priests or in their church bulletins.
Greenlee said the report reminded him of the 2015 movie “Spotlight,” a film about The Boston Globe’s coverage of rampant child sex abuse in the Archdiocese of Boston.
More specifically, Greenlee said the story reminded him of the scene in the film where Mark Ruffalo, portraying journalist Michael Rezendes, says the abuse could have happened to any of his colleagues who grew up as members of the church.
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