HARRISBURG (PA)
CBS News
August 15, 2018
By Nikki Battiste
New details are emerging about how Catholic Church leaders protected priests accused of sexual abuse. A Pennsylvania grand jury says more than 300 priests abused more than 1,000 children, and likely thousands more, over seven decades.
A trove of documents containing allegations and admissions of sexual abuse were kept locked up in what the church calls its “secret archives,” with the only key in the bishop’s hands.
“The cover-up made it impossible to achieve justice for the victims,” said Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro.
He laid out a pattern of consistent, decadeslong cover-up across six dioceses.
The files contained a pattern of strategies that were practically a playbook for concealing the truth. Some of the tactics for church recordkeeping included euphemisms, like saying “inappropriate contact” or “boundary issues” instead of “rape.”
Even if a priest was abusing children, they were allowed to keep their housing and living expenses. Above all, the church was told not to call the police and instead handle claims like a personnel matter.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.