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	Clergy Abuse Victims Push for Pittsburgh-Area Investigations By Sean D. Hamill The Associated Press, carried in Penn Live [Pittsburgh PA] September 27, 2005 PITTSBURGH (AP) — During a private meeting Tuesday with three clergy sex abuse victims, Allegheny County District Attorney Stephen Zappala Jr. did not rule out convening a grand jury similar to one that investigated the Philadelphia Archdiocese. The impromptu, hour-long meeting with Zappala surprised and pleased members of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, or SNAP, who had only hoped to leave a letter with the county's top prosecutor. "It was a real honest exchange," said David Clohessy, SNAP's national director and himself a victim of abuse by a priest. "We just hope we see some real concrete follow up." He said Zappala promised to read the 418-page report released by a grand jury last week that roundly criticized how the Philadelphia Archdiocese dealt with sexual abuse allegations. "I hope he uses his bully pulpit and makes a public comment about it," Clohessy said. In an interview after the meeting, Zappala said he wasn't sure a grand jury was warranted in Allegheny County, but he will ask his counterpart in Philadelphia "why it was warranted there." He also said he wasn't sure what he would have to say about the report once he reads it, but he wanted clergy sexual abuse victims to "know they can come forward and we will protect them." The Philadelphia report focused on the role of former Philadelphia Archbishop Anthony Bevilacqua, finding that he "concealed priest sexual abuse instead of exposing it." Following the report's release, SNAP, a national group based in Chicago that has 6,000 members, decided to push for an investigation into the Pittsburgh Diocese because Bevilacqua was bishop here from 1983 to 1988 before heading to Philadelphia. The Philadelphia report included one well-documented case where Bevilacqua allowed a priest convicted of sexual abuse in New Jersey to be transferred into the Pittsburgh Diocese. "Certainly it seems logical to us that if Bevilacqua essentially headed a concerted, continuous cover up in Philadelphia, only a fool would believe he hadn't done that here," Clohessy said. Clohessy said he hopes that if Zappala investigates the Pittsburgh Diocese, the probe will look into the actions of current Bishop Donald Wuerl, who generally has been considered to be tough on priests accused of sexual abuse. "I think his track record on abuse has been vastly overrated. I think he's a master of public relations," Clohessy said. "And in light of the Philadelphia report, I think anything a church leader says (about how sexual abuse claims were handled) should be questioned." Rev. Ronald Lengwin, spokesman for the Pittsburgh Diocese, said independent reviews have found no wrongdoing in how the diocese has handled sexual abuse complaints over the last three years, and Wuerl welcomes any investigation.
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