LEXINGTON (KY)
WKYT
August 20, 2018
By Emilie Arroyo
A disturbing grand jury report out of Pennsylvania is hitting close to home for the Diocese of Lexington. The recent report involves hundreds of priests, and more than 1,000 victims of alleged sexual abuse in the Catholic church.
The former leader of the Diocese of Lexington, Bishop Ronald Gainer, surfaced in the abuse findings, and is accused of asking the Vatican to protect two accused priests.
“The efforts to protect the institution were widespread,” explained Lexington Bishop John Stowe, who says he hasn’t had recent contact with his predecessor.
“No I have not had a chance to talk to Bishop Gainer,” said Stowe, “Our first concern is for the victims. We also go around with the shame of knowing that leadership in our church has failed to respond adequately to victims and allowed abuse to go on.”
However, Stowe has reached out to Lexington parishioners, condemning both the abuse and cover-ups that followed.
“Our church is bigger than just the sins of some of its members. So, we have to focus on the good that we’re doing and hear the cries of the victims, and respond to those as best as we can,” said Stowe.
That response, and ones like it from other church leaders in Kentucky, is falling short for some in the Catholic community, like members of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests. A leader with the Kentucky chapter tells WKYT that if the church wants to stop the abuse,
it has to change the language used to describe it.
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