SHARON (PA)
The Sharon Herald and CNHI
By John Finnerty
Harrisburg – The state Supreme Court continues to weigh whether or how to release a grand jury report detailing allegations of widespread sex abuse by priests in six of Pennsylvania’s Catholic dioceses.
As arguments come in from both sides, the head of a watchdog group that tracks efforts to hold the Catholic Church accountable for covering up sex abuse by priests said he’s unaware of any previous case where an appeals court intervened to consider whether individuals should be named in such court documents.
“This precise situation hasn’t happened before,” said Terence McKiernan, president of Bishop Accountability, a Massachusetts-based group. “There’s a strong case that can be made that we can expect bad stuff,” McKiernan said. “It doesn’t surprise me that people don’t want it released.”
An undisclosed number of people, including current and former members of the clergy, have asked the court to either redact or bar the release of the grand jury report, which deals with allegations in the dioceses in Allentown, Erie, Greensburg, Harrisburg, Pittsburgh and Scranton. This report follows a 2016 grand jury report detailing decades of sex abuse cover-ups in the Altoona-Johnstown Catholic Diocese.
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