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Pennsylvania Grand Jury Report Details Decades of Clerical Abuse Allegations
Catholic News Agency ^ | 8/14/18 | Christine Rousselle

Posted on 08/14/2018 4:01:30 PM PDT by marshmallow

Pittsburgh, Pa., Aug 14, 2018 / 02:27 pm (CNA).- A redacted grand jury report on clerical sexual abuse in six of Pennsylvania’s Catholic dioceses was released Tuesday, following an 18-month investigation into thousands of alleged instances of abuse spanning several decades.

The report, detailing allegations made in the dioceses of Allentown, Erie, Greensburg, Harrisburg, Pittsburgh, and Scranton, was released Aug.14. It reported on evidence of systematic abuse and cover-ups going back seven decades within these dioceses.

About half of Pennsylvania’s nearly 3 million Catholics live within these six dioceses.

The 884-page report was written by 23 grand jurors, who spent some 18 months investigating the six dioceses, examining half a million pages of documents in the process. The FBI assisted with the investigative process.

The report claims to have identified more than 1,000 victims of 300 credibly accused priests and presents a devastating portrait of efforts by Church authorities to, ignore, obscure, or cover up allegations - either to protect accused priests or to spare the Church scandal.

The report also identified a series of practices present in different ways across the dioceses which together amounted to a “playbook for concealing the truth.”

These include use of phrases like “boundary issues” or ”inappropriate contact” instead of explicitly referring to rape and sexual abuse, assigning priests to investigate their peers, instead of using qualified and objective personnel, and a reliance on psychological assessments and diagnoses based upon the self-reporting of clerics.

Due to laws regarding the statute of limitations, nearly every abuse allegation cannot be criminally prosecuted, although two indictments have been filed. So far, one priest, Fr. John Sweeney, has been convicted of sexually assaulting a student in the early 1990s.

(Excerpt) Read more at catholicnewsagency.com ...


TOPICS: Catholic; Current Events; Ministry/Outreach; Moral Issues
KEYWORDS: blessedvirginmary; catholic
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To: Biggirl

Correction :try to take Church down.


41 posted on 08/15/2018 5:03:47 AM PDT by Biggirl ("One Lord, one faith, one baptism" - Ephesians 4:5)
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To: unread

Listening now to news reports about the PA Catholic priest sex abuse scandals.


42 posted on 08/15/2018 5:10:07 AM PDT by Biggirl ("One Lord, one faith, one baptism" - Ephesians 4:5)
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To: caww

The angry backlash has started among the lay folks.


43 posted on 08/15/2018 5:13:30 AM PDT by Biggirl ("One Lord, one faith, one baptism" - Ephesians 4:5)
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To: trebb

Ouch......


44 posted on 08/15/2018 5:43:24 AM PDT by metmom ( ...fixing our eyes on Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of our faith......)
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To: Jim Noble

So in Catholicism’s eyes, breaking their vows to get married to a woman is a worse crime than breaking their vows by molesting minors. And judging by the responses we see on FR these days, that kind of thinking is still out there.

That is so twisted.

Peter was married.

Scripture not only allows for but virtually commands marriage for elders and deacons.


45 posted on 08/15/2018 5:47:06 AM PDT by metmom ( ...fixing our eyes on Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of our faith......)
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To: Biggirl; caww
The angry backlash has started among the lay folks.

It sure took long enough.

Where's everyone been the last decade or so?

46 posted on 08/15/2018 5:48:33 AM PDT by metmom ( ...fixing our eyes on Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of our faith......)
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To: metmom

Well, I don’t know about “Catholicism’s eyes”.

I do not share your views about Catholicism, which you have explained very well here on many occasions.

I hope you do accept the general proposition about Man’s sin nature and the saving purpose of Christ’s sacrifice.


47 posted on 08/15/2018 6:23:12 AM PDT by Jim Noble
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To: NKP_Vet

**In the United States the 2004 John Jay Report, commissioned from the John Jay College of Criminal Justice and funded by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), was based on volunteer surveys completed by the Roman Catholic dioceses in the United States.**

Funded by the bishops..... well surely there was no ‘Strozk’ type of fellow working for both them and the college.


48 posted on 08/15/2018 6:27:23 AM PDT by Zuriel (Acts 2:38,39....Do you believe it?)
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To: metmom

Catholic Militant website has started an online/hard copy writing effort. It has been posted here on FR.


49 posted on 08/15/2018 7:02:13 AM PDT by Biggirl ("One Lord, one faith, one baptism" - Ephesians 4:5)
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To: Jim Noble

AMEN! We have a WINNER!


50 posted on 08/15/2018 7:04:35 AM PDT by Biggirl ("One Lord, one faith, one baptism" - Ephesians 4:5)
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To: Salvation

The reality is that this horrible wrong has to be addressed once and for all.

This is not Catholic bashing but simply coming to terms that the RCC has a major “Houston we have a problem” at this point in time. Time for a major house cleaning.


51 posted on 08/15/2018 7:18:44 AM PDT by Biggirl ("One Lord, one faith, one baptism" - Ephesians 4:5)
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To: NKP_Vet; All

The very HARSH reality is that horrible sexual sins is NOT JUST A RCC PROBLEM. This is ACROSS THE BOARD in the Christian community.


52 posted on 08/15/2018 7:29:38 AM PDT by Biggirl ("One Lord, one faith, one baptism" - Ephesians 4:5)
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To: aMorePerfectUnion

Then why is the rate of sexual abuse higher among non-Catholics than the rates of Catholic priests?


53 posted on 08/15/2018 7:34:27 AM PDT by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)
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To: aMorePerfectUnion
available figures for homosexual priests in the United States range from 15–58%.

When the range is that wide, the numbers are worthless. There is not enough statistical data to draw any conclusions on that point.


54 posted on 08/15/2018 7:47:45 AM PDT by Buckeye McFrog
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To: metmom
The angry backlash has started among the lay folks.

The most effective backlash is to refrain from the collection basket.


55 posted on 08/15/2018 7:48:58 AM PDT by Buckeye McFrog
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To: Buckeye McFrog
available figures for homosexual priests in the United States range from 15–58%. When the range is that wide, the numbers are worthless. There is not enough statistical data to draw any conclusions on that point.

Here's what I conclude, keep your kids away from priests.

56 posted on 08/15/2018 7:49:07 AM PDT by 1Old Pro
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To: Biggirl

....”The angry backlash has started among the lay folks”....

Where ???... How so????... Evidence other than just talk???
Decades of Clerical Abuse were and are well known...where’s the outcry again?


57 posted on 08/15/2018 8:00:03 AM PDT by caww
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To: metmom

Celibacy isn’t the problem.

Homosexuality is the problem.


58 posted on 08/15/2018 8:10:19 AM PDT by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)
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To: caww

Please see post 49. Thank -you.


59 posted on 08/15/2018 8:10:31 AM PDT by Biggirl ("One Lord, one faith, one baptism" - Ephesians 4:5)
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To: Pearls Before Swine
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60 posted on 08/15/2018 8:11:46 AM PDT by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)
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