It has not been a good week for our Roman Catholic brothers and sisters. On Tuesday, a scathing, nearly 1000-page report was issued by a grand jury in Pennsylvania which outlined a systemic pattern of covering up the sexual abuse of children. Nearly 1000 cases and some 300 “predator priests” were identified across six dioceses in Pennsylvania. These cases go back as far as 70 years, well beyond the statute of limitations for prosecution. A roundup of some of the news coverage:
Vatican is in Shame and Sorrow over Abuses in Pennsylvania (PBS NewsHour)
Bishops request Vatican investigation as abuse crisis grows (Minneapolis Star-Tribune)
Culpability Reaches Vatican (Scranton, PA Times-Tribune)
Catholic Cardinal: ‘Homosexual culture’ is to blame for child rape (Pink News, United Kingdom)
Vatican: Pa. abuse ‘criminal and morally reprehensible’ (Wilkes-Barre, PA Times-Leader)
Diocese: Timlin’s actions, status under review (Wilkes-Barre, PA Times-Leader)
Priests address grand jury report: ‘we can and must deal with anger’ Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)
Harrisburg Diocese to hold forgiveness Mass in wake of grand jury report (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)
After Pa. report, O’Malley says church’s crisis is product of ‘clerical failures’ (The Boston Globe)
Alleged misconduct at Brighton seminary prompts inquiry (The Boston Globe)
Former Catholic Priest Says Pennsylvania Bishop Ignored His Reports of Abuse (National Public Radio)
8:00 pm CDT additions:
Bishop Sean Rowe’s (Northwest PA and Bethlehem) pastoral letter in response to the report
Statement of Catholic Theologians, Educators, Parishioners, and Lay Leaders on Clergy Sexual Abuse in the United States (Daily Theologian)
Washington cardinal [Donald Wuerl] entangled in two sex-abuse scandals (Religion News Service)
An open letter to my Roman Catholic Friends (Religion News Service)
The numbers, as well as the cover-up, in the report are staggering. It is worth remembering that the Roman Catholic Church is not alone in combating this issue. The Episcopal Church has had its share of similar cases. In recent memory are that of Howdy White, the former chaplain at St. George’s School in Rhode Island (see the Providence Journal’s coverage here); and that of Donald Davis, former bishop of Northwest Pennsylvania, who was found in 2010 to have abused several children during his tenure. In both cases, the people responsible for supervising their work failed to take proper action at the time the abuse was reported. Sexual harassment and abuse figured prominently in many conversations at General Convention last month as well, including a Liturgy of Listening (which is available on the General Convention media site; scroll down to the bottom of the list of worship videos, which is in a window in the middle of the page) and a number of resolutions meant to begin to address the challenges posed by this issue. A full summary of GC’s actions on this and the other business before it is available at the General Convention website.