PENNSYLVANIA
PennLive

By Steve Marroni | smarroni@pennlive.com

As the state attorney general released a grand-jury report detailing four decades of sexual abuse at the Roman Catholic Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown, local church officials say they are “sad and shocked” and are asking for prayers for all of the victims.

“The sexual abuse of minors is an appalling sin and a crime,” Diocese of Harrisburg spokesman Joseph Aponick said Tuesday. “That is why the Diocese of Harrisburg has made strong and aggressive steps to combat it.”

And at the Altoona-Johnstown diocese, church officials are saying they cooperated fully with the investigation and will continue to do their part to protect children.

Hundreds of children were sexually abused over a period of 40 years by priests or church leaders in the Altoona-Johnstown Diocese, a grand jury investigation has concluded.

“This is a painful and difficult time in our Diocesan Church,” Bishop Mark…