PITTSBURGH (PA)
The Beaver County Times
August 24, 2018
By Daveen Rae Kurutz
A spokesman for the Diocese of Pittsburgh said there was no formal process for monitoring priests accused of sexual abuse prior to the release of the grand jury report earlier this month.
Editor’s note: This story has been updated to reflect the correct church that the Rev. Ernest Paone served at in the 1960s.
Dozens of Roman Catholic priests who had credible accusations of sexual abuse against them were not monitored by the Diocese of Pittsburgh once removed from the ministry during the past 70 years, diocesan officials admitted.
After a grand jury report detailed how more than 300 Pennsylvania priests in six dioceses — including 102 from the six-county Diocese of Pittsburgh — sexually abused more than 1,000 children, Bishop David Zubik, an Ambridge native, announced plans to begin monitoring the 22 living priests who were removed from ministry since 1976.
“There was no formal process for monitoring,” the Rev. Nicholas Vaskov, executive director of communications for the Diocese of Pittsburgh said. “This is a step that needed to be taken in keeping the safety of children in mind.”
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