BISHOP PERSICO MAINTAINS COMMITMENT TO TRANSPARENCY IN CHILD ABUSE CASES

Mary Solberg | nwpaCatholic.com
06/22/2018

 

            Erie Bishop Lawrence Persico has pledged his ongoing “commitment to transparency” in child sex abuse cases, despite a June 20 state Supreme Court action that halted the release of a long-awaited grand jury report.

            The court issued an order preventing the unsealing and release of the report that examined how the Diocese of Erie and five other Catholic dioceses in Pennsylvania handled incidents of child abuse over a period of decades.

            The court will review unspecified legal challenges to the report’s release. Because grand jury proceedings are secret, it is unclear who may have challenged the public release of the report.

            Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro had been expected to publicly share the 884-page report at the end of June.

            In a statement, Bishop Persico said he did not seek the stay.

            “As demonstrated from the recent revisions to our Policy for the Protection of Children, we are committed to transparency,” the bishop said. “We anxiously await the Supreme Court’s decision on this matter, and support the release of the report which will give victims a voice. Until the report is released, we will continue our efforts to identify abusers and provide counseling and assistance to victims.”

            Besides the Diocese of Erie, the other five dioceses examined by the grand jury the past two years have not opposed the release of the report. Those other dioceses include Allentown, Greensburg, Harrisburg, Pittsburgh and Scranton.

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                                                                        Bishop Persico’s full statement:

             Bishop Lawrence Persico and the Diocese of Erie did not seek a stay of the  publication of the grand jury report, and thus cannot comment on the merits of  the legal arguments of others. As demonstrated from the recent revisions to our Policy for the Protection of Children, we are committed to transparency. We anxiously await the Supreme Court’s decision on this matter, and support the release of the report which will give victims a voice. Until the report is released, we will continue our efforts to identify abusers and provide counseling and assistance to victims.

            **** To read all recent statements regarding the grand jury investigation into child abuse in the Diocese of Erie, go to https://www.eriercd.org/Bishop-Persicos-statements.html.  

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