One year after child sex abuse revelations, Altoona-Johnstown bishop, feds set to unveil reforms

By Colin Deppen
PennLive
March 6, 2017

http://www.pennlive.com/news/2017/03/altoona-johnstown_bishop_feds.html

Almost a year to the day after child sex abuse allegations first rocked the Altoona-Johnstown Diocese, church and law enforcement officials were set to publicly announce a new set of reform measures on Monday -- measures meant to prevent similar abuse from happening in the future. Acting U.S. Attorney for Western Pennsylvania Soo Song and Altoona-Johnstown Bishop Mark Bartchak have called a news conference for Monday afternoon in Johnstown, at which time they're expected to announce a collaborative framework to "protect the children of the diocese from sexual abuse," a media advisory explained.The news conference comes a year after then-Attorney General Kathleen Kane held her own event in Altoona to announce that a grand jury investigation of the diocese had determined that hundreds of children were sexually abused over a period of 40 years by church leaders, and that at least 50 priests or religious leaders had been involved in sexual abuses. Kane went on to describe the abuse allegations in shocking detail.

For many in the Altoona-Johnstown area, Kane's announcement confirmed years of circulating rumors about allegations of rape, abuse and cover-ups involving the Roman Catholic Diocese there. The diocese is home to more than 90,000 Roman Catholics in eight counties in central Pennsylvania.

In the months after Kane's announcement, the diocese said it was cooperating with law enforcement officials and taking recommendations from the grand jury report under advisement.

"I acknowledge there are a number of recommendations made in this report involving how we respond to allegations of abuse. I take them seriously," Bishop Bartchak said at the time.

The plan to be announced Monday afternoon by Bartchak and Attorney Song is expected to respond to some of those recommendations, although it was initially unclear to which or how.

The scandal itself came to light after years of allegations involving Catholic priests and young children nationwide. It also followed the uncovering of such abuse and far-reaching cover-ups by Boston Globe reporters in 2002.

Pope Francis has since pledged "zero tolerance" for sex abuse in the church. Francis has also established a commission with survivors of such abuse and church leaders to better protect children from offenders. But Francis' efforts have been hampered in recent weeks by a commission resignation and accusations of church leaders stonewalling reform efforts. Those same critics have also cited a larger "cultural resistance to change at the Vatican."

In western Pennsylvania, many saw the 2016 grand jury report detailing extensive cover-ups of sex abuse claims by Altoona-Johnstown Diocese leaders as emblematic of this larger issue, and some victims and their advocates continue to question the commitment of the church and diocese to actual reform.

In Kane's grand jury report, while Bartchak was not accused of wrongdoing and had suspended several priests named as alleged abusers in the report in the months leading up to its release, the grand jury still said it was "concerned the purge of predators is taking too long." 

Whether Monday's announcement goes far enough in easing those concerns and the concerns of victims and their advocates remained to be seen as of Monday morning.