“Sadly, some of the clergy leading the church in Pennsylvania have failed to heed your words,” wrote Shapiro. He went on to say that at least two church leaders in the state are behind the efforts to silence the victims of sexual abuse and avoid accountability.
Shapiro requested Pope Francis to instruct church leaders in the state to “abandon their destructive efforts to silence survivors.”
“Please call on them to follow the path of truth you laid out and permit the healing process to begin” wrote Shapiro to Pope Francis.
Last month, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court prevented the release of of the grand jury report on sexual abuse within the six Catholic dioceses in the state. Over a dozen current and retired members of the Catholic clergy filed objections to the court. They argued that the report violated their constitutional rights because it was full of errors and mischaracterizations. Shapiro filed an objection to a continued stay of the report’s release.
On July 20, Supervising Judge Norman A. Krumenacker of the 40th Statewide Investigating Grand Jury, overruled the objections to the release of the report.
