HARTFORD (CT)
Hartford Courant
August 17, 2018
By Dave Altimari
Henry J. Mansell, the retired Archbishop of Hartford, had a role in the 1985 transfer of a known pedophile priest from New York to Pennsylvania, where the priest then had inappropriate contact with school children, a grand jury report released this week reveals.
The report by a Pennsylvania grand jury detailing horrific incidents of child sex abuse by priests also includes other references to Connecticut — including a child pornography case and the treatment of two pedophile priests at the Institute of Living in Hartford. Institute officials previously have said they were unaware the Catholic Church was keeping abusive priests in the ministry after treatment in Hartford.
The nearly 1,400-page report released earlier this week alleged that Pennsylvania church officials covered up child sexual abuse by more than 300 priests over a period of 70 years. The report, which covered six of the state’s eight Catholic dioceses, found more than 1,000 identifiable victims.
“I am not available for comment. The report does not suggest I did anything wrong,’’ Mansell said in a statement released Friday. “We agree with the Pope and the Bishops in the United States regarding what they have said about abuses against children and young people.”
The Pennsylvania grand jury report has stirred strong reaction among church officials in Connecticut, where tens of millions of dollars have been paid in settlements from abuse cases dating back decades. At this weekend’s Masses, priests are scheduled to read a letter from current Hartford Archbishop Leonard Blair that is critical of the way church leaders dealt with pedophile priests.
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