NEW YORK (NY)
CBS News

August 19, 2018

Sunday marked the first time many Catholics returned to church since a shocking new report about priest sex abuse came to light. Many churches in the Northeast held a “Mass of forgiveness,” including St. Patrick’s Cathedral, CBS New York reports.

Bishop Ronald Gainer with the Diocese of Harrisburg joined a list of Roman Catholic clergy to pray and ask for forgiveness. It came in reaction to a grand jury report last week in the commonwealth of Pennsylvania that alleged rampant sex abuse affecting more than 1,000 children by 300 priests in six dioceses over the past seven decades.

“In the name of our local church, I voice again my heartfelt sorrow and sincere apology to all survivors of clergy sexual abuse,” Gainer said.

Gainer, who is named in the report, is accused of reaching out to the Vatican to protect two…