Conspiracy of Silence, 1994. (Catholic Sex Abuse)

[John1956PA]

3. It was in 1987 that I first heard news that some priests had sexually abused minors.

In 1987, I was shocked. The idea of a priest exploiting a minor for sex had never occurred to me. Sadly, as the eighties came to a close, I learned from reading news articles that about 2% of priests had been engaging minors in sexual acts for some time. However, I took some solace in the fact that the depravity was now out in the open and that steps were apparently being taken to purge the sex offenders from the ranks of active priests.

In the mid 1990s, cardinal Bernardin of Chicago faced an allegation which ultimately proved to be unfounded. At that time, I thought that the news of sex abuse in the church was at an end.

In 2002, The Boston Globe published its investigative series about the Diocese of Boston having reassigned sex abusers rather than reporting them to authorities. I was angry that high-placed church officials had covered up abuse of minors by priests.

Over the past fifteen years in Pennsylvania, the Johnstown-Altoona Diocese and the Greensburg Diocese faced lawsuits by victims of sex abuse by priests. Sadly, I saw most of those suits dismissed because of the elapse of the filing deadline mandated by the statute of limitations.

Now, the Pennsylvania Grand Jury has issued findings regarding cover-ups by the remaining four Pennsylvania Dioceses. I am no longer shocked by revelations of cover-ups, but am am still disturbed by them. It seems to me that the most egregious cover-ups occurred in the 1960s through 1980s. I am in favor of the Pennsylvania legislator opening a filing window for old cases currently barred from court because of the prevailing statute of limitations.