A report on the abuse by clergy of hundreds of Pennsylvania children over several decades and the best picture Oscar win for Spotlight have “brought painful, but important, reminders that we must remain vigilant in our efforts to protect children from the scourge of abuse”, the head of the US bishops’ child protection agency has said.
Juneau, Alaska’s Bishop Edward Burns, chairman of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on the Protection of Children and Young People, spoke against the background of a grand jury report into abuse in the Pennsylvania diocese of Altoona-Johnstown. The report found at least 50 priests or religious leaders in the diocese had been involved in abuse, with diocesan leaders having systematically concealed the abuse and police perhaps been guilty of “looking the other way”.
It credited the diocese’s current bishop, Dr Mark Bartchak, who was appointed in 2011, for taking proper action to remove priests from ministry and report allegations to the authorities.
“Once again,” Dr Burns said, “the wounds inflicted through these heinous crimes have caused great pain and further mistrust in the Church.” Commenting on Spotlight, which tells the story of how abuse in the Archdiocese of Boston was uncovered by the Boston Globe, he praised how the film “chronicles the courage of the victims and the journalists” involved.