The Grand Jury report on the Catholic church abuse cover-up that went on for decades in the State of Pennsylvania continues to inspire other states’ dioceses to release similar records. Of a total of 187 dioceses in the U.S., 178 have publicly released 6,754 names of credibly accused clergy members, according to ProPublica.

The Catholic church abuse report in Pennsylvania named priests who had trusted access to children. They allegedly were sexually abusing underage boys and girls in violation of that trust, and the church hierarchy worked to keep these violations secret.

History of Investigations

The Boston Globe ran a report about a Catholic church abuse cover-up in that metropolitan area alleging that church officials made every attempt to keep the sexual predation of a local priest off the public radar.

A couple of years later, a report issued by the John Jay College of Criminal Justice made known that 4,000 priests across the U.S. had been involved in inappropriate and criminal sexual advances toward children in the last 50 years of the 20^th century.

The report started a public discourse about the problem of child sexual abuse in general and how religious institutions such as the Catholic church can work to maintain the secrecy of perpetrators.

Through this conversation, further allegations surfaced on a global level and it was discovered that similar situations of Catholic church abuse cover up had occurred in numerous countries such as Austria, Brazil, Canada, England, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, and Switzerland among others.

The Vatican then established rules and regulations that were to be followed by church officials if sexual violation of a minor by a clergy person was reported.

In an ideal world, the transgressing priest was to be put on immediate ministerial leave pending investigation of said violations rather than moved to another diocese allowing the trail of abuses to compound. This operating protocol was theoretically sound, but many believe it was not enforced properly and Catholic church sexual abuse cover ups continued.

Church Response Underwhelming

According to CHILD USA’s investigative report released in October 2020, the Catholic church allegedly has not formed an organized effort to prevent child sexual abuse among the ranks of its clergy. The investigative report by the Vatican about the church’s handling of disgraced former Cardinal Theodore McCarrick is a case in point.

CHILD USA told the Associated Press, “Unfortunately, the Catholic Church has left the development and implementation of policies to the discretion of each local diocese and archdiocese. As a result, there is now a hodgepodge of relatively new child protection practices across the U.S.”

Founder and CEO of CHILD USA Marci Hamilton went on to say that because individual bishops are running each local effort to curb child sexual abuse, a more independent oversight of the policies and their implementation is needed.

CHILD USA’s investigation determined that just five archdioceses have instituted policies that allow an independent party other than a high-level church member to lead an investigation into sex abuse allegations. In-house investigators not only have conflicts of interest that could obscure their impartiality, but also lack the educational background and experience needed to properly scrutinize sex abuse allegations, found the report.

The Grand Jury Report

The Pennsylvania Grand Jury report released in August 2018 investigated the records and allegations of six state dioceses. In the report, they claim 300 cases involving sexual abuse allegations over the 17 year period between 2000 and 2017. Overall, more than 1,000 victims allegedly were abused over the course of 70 years.

It was noted that this represented a significant statistical drop in accusations, but the number still got the attention of the Vatican. A symposium among Catholic bishops on how to prevent violations and protect constituents is expected in this new year.

Church May Still Face RICO Charges

U.S. Attorney William McSwain has spent two years attempting to gather enough evidence to charge the Roman Catholic Church with conspiracy charges, but only one defrocked priest has yet to be charged.

Robert Brennan, 82, was arrested for providing false information to FBI agents. When asked whether or not he knew a person who accused him of sexual abuse, Brennan allegedly said he did not know the person despite the FBI producing a photo of Brennan with the accuser from a graduation ceremony. Brennan is free on bail while he attempts to have the case dismissed, while victims still deal with their pain and suffering.

After waiting years for the church to be held accountable, Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests Executive Director Zach Hiner told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that he has spoken to several people who would like to see an investigation conducted under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act statute.

Racketeering is a term most often referred to as an activity conducted by organized crime. The term also refers to acts that involve a problem and a solution from the same person or entity. Federal racketeering charges against the Catholic church would allow prosecutors to hold the church responsible for helping cover up church sex abuse committed by members of the clergy. RICO could allow prosecutors to file charges against bishops and archbishops who helped hide sexual abuse by moving accused priests to other parishes or aiding the accused clergy in other ways that allowed their sexual misconduct to go unreported.