On Wednesday, a Maryland prosecutor accused Catholic Church authorities in Baltimore of covering the sexual abuse of over 600 children for decades. State Attorney General Anthony Brown has issued a report that lists several priests who “preyed upon” youngsters over the course of several years. The 463-page study details the abuse and what the priests did.
“Time and again, members of the Church’s hierarchy resolutely refused to acknowledge allegations of child sexual abuse for as long as possible,” according to the report.
“When denial became impossible, Church leadership would remove abusers from the parish or school, sometimes with promises that they would have no further contact with children. Church documents reveal with disturbing clarity that the Archdiocese was more concerned with avoiding scandal and negative publicity than it was with protecting children.”
According to the report, it was discovered that over 600 children were abused by the 156 people identified in the report, but the number is likely to be more significant.
According to the research, other parishes, such as St. Mark Parish in Catonsville, had many perpetrators. From 1964 until 2004, the facility housed 11 child offenders. According to the investigation, numerous adults frequently molested one juvenile victim.
“Young people in some parishes were preyed upon by multiple abusers over decades, and clergy used the power and authority of the ministry to exploit the trust of the children and families in their charge,” Brown found.
Archdiocese report reveals “Depraved, Systemic Failure” in protecting children
The investigation lasted more than four years, after which the report was written and issued. That reveals the Archdiocese’s “depraved, systemic failure to safeguard the most vulnerable – the children it was responsible for protecting,” Brown said in a statement.
In response to the study, Baltimore Archbishop William E. Lori termed it a “sad and painful reminder of the tremendous harm caused to innocent children and young people by some ministers of the Church.”
“The detailed accounts of abuse are shocking and soul-searing,” he said. “It is difficult for most to imagine that such evil acts could have actually occurred. For victim-survivors everywhere, they know the hard truth: These evil acts did occur.”