DELAWARE
The News Journal
Jessica Masulli Reyes, The News Journal June 15, 2017
The bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Wilmington denies allegations in the Netflix documentary “The Keepers” that he tried to cover up sexual abuse by a Baltimore priest decades ago.
The seven-part series released in late May focuses on a priest, Rev. Joseph Maskell, who was accused of sexually abusing students at Baltimore’s Archbishop Keogh High School in the 1960s and 1970s.
The series explores a theory that Sister Catherine Anne Cesnik, a teacher at the school, was killed in 1969 because she suspected Maskell was abusing students. Cesnik’s murder remains unsolved, and Maskell was never criminally charged for the abuse before his death in 2001.
Bishop W. Francis Malooly, who was assigned to the Archdiocese of Baltimore before he became Wilmington’s bishop in 2008, is mentioned only in the final episode of the series. Malooly posted to the Archdiocese of Wilmington’s website a lengthy statement challenging the accusations.
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