Shapiro Says Grand Jury Report on Sex Abuse in Catholic Dioceses Coming in June
By Tim Darragh
The release of a report detailing decades of sexual abuse within six Pennsylvania Catholic dioceses, including Allentown, was cleared Monday after two other dioceses gave up legal challenges. Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro said Monday that the dioceses of Greensburg and Harrisburg were backing off legal challenges that could have possibly blocked release of the report. “Today, in a reversal of their position, the bishops and dioceses of Greensburg and Harrisburg agreed to make public the results of a grand jury investigation of widespread sexual abuse within the Catholic church,” Shapiro said in a statement. He commended Greensburg Bishop Edward Malesic and Harrisburg Bishop Ronald Gainer “for doing the right thing.” Pittsburgh Bishop David Zubik also agreed not to mount a challenge to the report, Shapiro’s office said over the weekend. They joined Allentown Bishop Alfred Schlert and bishops in Scranton and Erie in pledging to give victims a chance to tell their stories through the report, Shapiro said. The agreements clear the way for the release of the report next month. “I expect to speak publicly on this comprehensive investigation by the end of June,” Shapiro said. “The only thing that could stop these findings from becoming public at that time is if one of the bishops or dioceses would seek to delay or prevent this public accounting.” Shapiro inherited the probe of the six dioceses when he took office in 2017. His predecessor, Kathleen Kane, started it as a follow-up to a March 2016 grand jury report that detailed allegations of abuse by about 50 priests and other religious leaders in the Altoona-Johnstown Diocese and an alleged cover-up by church officials. Five years before that, the second of two grand juries investigating the Philadelphia Archdiocese concluded, uncovering unreported sexual abuse allegations against about 100 priests. Meeting in Pittsburgh, the current grand jury heard testimony from alleged victims and diocesan officials and has issued subpoenas for records. On May 8, Shapiro’s office announced the probe’s first indictment, of an Erie priest for alleged sexual abuse of two boys over several years. The Rev. David Poulson, 64, of Oil City, a priest in the Erie Diocese for four decades until this year, was charged with indecent assault, endangering the welfare of children and corruption of minors. In announcing the charges, Shapiro said Erie Diocese officials knew about the abuse as early as 2010 but did nothing to stop it until they had to answer the grand jury subpoena in September 2016. Contact: tdarragh@mcall.com
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