JASPER (IN)
Dubois County Herald
October 5, 2018
By Leann Burke
For the last month, local priests have made themselves available for parishioners reeling from news of sexual abuse by priests detailed in a report from a Pennsylvania grand jury.
The 1,356-page report details how church leaders in almost every Pennsylvania diocese covered up child sexual abuse for over 70 years. Shock waves from the report reverberated throughout the country — roughly 10 additional states are now conducting their own investigations — and all the way to the Vatican where Pope Francis called on U.S. bishops to talk openly about the report. Here in the Diocese of Evansville, Bishop Joseph Siegel wrote a statement for local priests to share with their parishioners.
“Let us continue to pray for abuse victims and their families, care for them and provide assistance as they seek healing and justice,” Siegel wrote in the statement. “We pray also for those who have harmed them.”
Local priests have done their best to heed the bishop’s call when necessary, but the report hasn’t caused as much uproar locally as it has on the national stage.
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