Survivors Report Past Priest Abuse Every Day in Pa. Will State Law Ever Catch Up?

By Candy Woodall
York Daily
August 12, 2019

https://bit.ly/2TpYGrp

The most recent total is 1,862.

But to state Attorney General Josh Shapiro, it’s more than a number.

They are 1,862 new stories of abuse. They are 1,862 new victims who came forward since he read a landmark grand jury report on Aug. 14, 2018, identifying 301 abusive priests in Pennsylvania and a cover-up that stretched from here to the Vatican. They are 1,862 survivors.

And those 1,862 people, along with the “thousands” of victims tallied by a state grand jury, are still waiting on state lawmakers to act.

Victims in Pennsylvania continue to come forward, calling a state hotline every day to report crimes against them.

Shapiro wants all victims to know, a year later, they can still call the line at 1-888-538-8541.

“Whenever you’re ready to share your truth, we’ll be here ready to listen, and we’ll be here ready to fight for you,” Shapiro said in an interview with the York Daily Record Tuesday.

The attorney general and his team sometimes seem like the only people who are listening, according to abuse survivor Michael McDonnell, a leader with the Philadelphia chapter of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests.

“Throughout the investigation, they’d call at 9 p.m. just to see how we were doing,” McDonnell said.