The Message from the US Bishops Meeting in Baltimore Is Clear: US Doj and State Ag’s Must Intensify Their Investigations of Bishops

End Clergy Abuse
November 14, 2018

https://www.ecaglobal.org/the-message-from-the-us-bishops-meeting-in-baltimore-is-clear-us-doj-and-state-ags-must-intensify-their-investigations-of-bishops/


The US bishops came to Baltimore this week assuring Catholics and the public that they would act with “intense urgency” to implement comprehensive and tough reforms to hold themselves accountable for the decades long cover up of child sex crimes across the United States.

Not only are they leaving Baltimore without implementing one concrete change, this afternoon they even voted down a feeble amendment to send to Pope Francis a short message “suggesting” that he should release the documents concerning Archbishop Theodore McCarrick.

McCarrick, once a Cardinal, had abused seminarians for decades and at least two minors. His conduct was known about by several of his brother bishops and senior Vatican officials. It is the most egregious case of cover up yet revealed in the American church. The bishop’s response to the McCarrick case, the Pennsylvania Grand Jury Report, and other revelations that have been cascading down upon them already demonstrated their utter lack of credibility.

Now, they leave Baltimore telling us they cannot act on what they promised. That they have no actual authority over themselves or the actions they take in the United States.

One hundred and thirty bishops attending the conference have covered up these crimes.

The president of the USCCB, Cardinal DiNardo called the current crisis a “moral catastrophe” that has engulfed the hierarchy. DiNardo has himself been recently implicated in covering up sex crimes in his current and former dioceses.

Bishops cannot police themselves. Their solution is that they must wait to have the Vatican police them, which they were supposed to be doing anyway. That solution has failed. Especially with the McCarrick case. Vatican officials worked with several American bishops in covering up for McCarrick.

It’s clear that justice for survivors of clergy sex abuse will not come from the USCCB or the Vatican. Survivors and the public, unable to trust the church that allowed the abuse to occur, must turn to the US Department of Justice and their State’s Attorney General to ensure that tomorrow’s Catholic children do not face a fate like ours.

CONTACT:

Peter Isely

US Spokesperson, Ending Clergy Abuse

414.429.7259

Contact: peterisely@gmail.com