Harrisburg Catholic Diocese Names Priests Who Have Been Accused Of Sexual Abuse

[appalachiablue]

Source: USA Today

1 hr. ago.

HARRISBURG, Pa. - A Roman Catholic diocese in Pennsylvania released a list Wednesday of more than 70 of its clergy members accused of sexually abusing children in cases dating back decades. Bishop Ronald Gainer, of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Harrisburg, also announced sweeping changes to confidentiality policies and said the names of any men accused of such crimes would be removed from any place of honor in the diocese. These changes pertain only to the Harrisburg diocese, which covers much of central Pennsylvania.

Gainer apologized profusely for abuses that occurred over many years. He said the church was releasing a list of every allegation made in recent decades against clergy in the diocese that had not been proven false. Gainer said that when he became bishop in 2014, the diocese began working to verify the status of priests going back to the 1940s. He said the diocese wanted to release this list before, but the Pennsylvania attorney general's office asked them not to, so as not to interfere with its investigation of Catholic clergy abuses across the state.

Now that a state grand jury investigation is concluding, the diocese decided the time was right to release information it had gathered about its priests. Attorney General Josh Shapiro's office issued a statement after the announcement, expressing criticism for the diocese's failure to be transparent in the past. It is long past due for the Diocese of Harrisburg to make public the names of predator priests within the Catholic Church," said spokesman Joe Grace, in the written statement. "Their proclamations today only come after intense public pressure and in the face of the imminent release of the Grand Jury report exposing decades of child abuse and cover up."

The statement went on to say that the attorney general's office will publish an "honest and comprehensive accounting of widespread sexual abuse by more than 300 priests" identified through the grand jury investigation into six dioceses....More.


Read more: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/harrisburg-catholic-diocese-names-priests-who-have-been-accused-of-sexual-abuse/ar-BBLmWIl

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Key sections of Harrisburg, PA Bishop Ronald Gainer's press conference today naming 71 clergy members accused of sexually abusing children in cases dating back decades. Aug. 1, 2018.

[geardaddy]

1. K&R

[demigoddess]

2. 71!!!?????

not such a rare occurrence then, hmmm??? Don't you just love hypocrites???

[BumRushDaShow]

3. That's just in one Diocese in the Harrisburg area

I can imagine the largest number would come from the Philly and Pittsburgh Dioceses.

[appalachiablue]

4. Pgh & Philly- thousands! *Note VICTIMS confidentiality waiver:

>>"Diocese waives confidentiality obligations. Gainer said he learned that some survivors who had confidentiality agreements with the diocese have felt constrained by those agreements. He is waiving those confidentiality agreements. This is expected to be huge for survivors who want to tell their stories."<<

[BumRushDaShow]

5. Yup. Had heard that on the local news here.

The cases mentioned were going all the way back to 1949.