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Church abuse report due in August
By Melissa Klaric
The names of “300 predator priests” and their “abhorrent actions” will be revealed in August when a report detailing widespread child sex abuse within the Catholic church is released. The state Supreme Court on Friday announced that an “interim” version of the grand jury’s report investigating six Pennsylvania Catholic dioceses, including Erie, will be released no later than Aug. 14. Redacted from the report will be the 14 names of people petitioning the court on constitutionality issues. “Our fear throughout this process has been that the entire grand jury report would be shelved and victims’ truth would be silenced,” state Attorney General Josh Shapiro said. “(Friday’s) order ensures that will not be the case – the redacted report on widespread sexual abuse and cover up within the Catholic Church will be released.” The long-awaited, 884-page report will describe the sex offenders’ actions, condemning their conduct and those in the church hierarchy who “concealed them, facilitated their actions or failed to intervene.” “Because that is what the victims deserve,” the grand jury states in the introduction. Leaders of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) expressed thanks to Shapiro for working toward the report’s public release. “Those of us who have worked with SNAP for years know that it is not easy to go up against the Catholic Church, with its great power and wealth,” said Tim Lennon, volunteer president of SNAP’s board of directors. “We are also delighted that many survivors who shared their truths with the grand jurors, and who feared that this difficult and painful experience was going to be for nothing, will finally see their horrific experiences made public.” Supreme Court Chief Justice Thomas G. Saylor said that grand jury reports “of this sort” cause substantial controversies, often leading to questions of constitutional rights violations. The interim report redacts the names of 14 people, most of whom are clergy, “solely to protect the identities of those who have lodged challenges before us, pending further order of this Court,” Saylor stated. “The report discloses findings of criminal and/or morally reprehensible conduct on the part of named petitioner-appellants,” Saylor quotes the grand jury. “These individuals contend that the grand jury’s findings are not supported by a preponderance of the evidence and are false or misleading.” Daniel Bauer, 68, of Erie, who says he was attacked and taken advantage of by a Catholic priest more than 30 years ago, is happy with the Supreme Court’s order. “I think it’s one step closer to vindication because they (the Supreme Court) are insinuating that maybe in a month or so the report will come out,” Bauer said. Bauer said he tried for decades to report the sexual abuse he endured and felt discouraged when he was repeatedly rebuffed by those clergy he told. Since July 1, Bauer has been picketing the Erie Catholic Diocese headquarters and says he will continue to picket there until the full report is released. He vows to show up at other churches where he believes clergy predators are hiding out. “I don’t have anything else to lose,” he said. “The 14 people fighting this are still playing their games, still victimizing the victims by not having the report released,” Bauer said. “They just don’t want their name out there.” He believes that one of the 14 petitioners is a clergy member with whom he had shared his story years ago. “That’s why I’m putting his name on these signs, and I’m hoping that he would dare to sue me,” Bauer said. “Then we could go to court and I would be under oath and I know the things I would say would stop his heart. I want to see the man dead, but I want to be able to say under oath what I know he’s done.” Bauer said that this person told him at the time that he was making everything up. “He told me I was having delusions,” Bauer said. “He said it would just be opening up old wounds. He used those exact words.” Shapiro said the Supreme Court’s order is a victory for survivors but his work is not done. “I will continue to fight to ensure every single victim is heard and every priest, bishop and church official is held accountable for their abhorrent conduct,” Shapiro said. “No one 00victim’s truth is any less important than another and no one’s criminal conduct any less loathsome.”
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