ROCKVILLE CENTRE (NY)
The Independent
August 21, 2018
By Rick Murphy
BISHOP JOHN BARRES ALLEGEDLY COVERED UP PRIEST PEDOPHILE SCANDAL
The Diocese of Rockville Centre hoped to further distance itself from the pedophile priest scandal that shook the very foundation of the Catholic Church when it when Bishop John Barres was named to replace the retiring Archbishop William Murphy.
Instead, fresh wounds have opened and the church is under the gun again with revelations that Barres, like Murphy, covered up pedophile crimes committed by priests and protected the accused.
Though Barres said August 15 that a grand jury report issued in Allentown, PA contained “factual errors,” Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro countered that the report is true.
Bishop Murphy was a central figure in the Boston church pedophile scandal — the story was told in The Spotlight, which won the Oscar for Best Picture in 2016.
Newsday reported Murphy, as Cardinal Bernard Law’s top deputy in Boston for almost eight years, was involved in almost one-third of the priest sexual abuse cases at the heart of the scandal there. “Not only did Murphy supervise the assignment of priests, he was privy to all confidential records on accusers’ complaints, treatment, and settlements. He also took care of accused priests’ legal bills and helped arrange housing and jobs for them,” Newsday continued.
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.