On this edition of Your Call, we discuss a grand jury report released last Tuesday alleging that Bishops and leaders of the Roman Catholic Church in Pennsylvania covered up the sexual abuse of more than 1,000 children by 300 priests over the course of 70 years in six dioceses.
Only two of the cases in the report have led to criminal charges. The jurors wrote that the law protects the “depraved behavior” of the perpetrators and leaves the victims with nothing. It's been 16 years since the Boston Globe's reporting revealed sex-abuse cover ups in the Boston area. What will it take to hold perpetrators accountable, ensure justice for survivors, and prevent future abuse?
Guests:
Melanie Sakoda, volunteer member of the Board of Directors for the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests, and co-founder of Pokrov.org, a resource for survivors of abuse in the Eastern Rite churches
Bob Hoatson, former Catholic priest, survivor of clergy abuse, and co-founder and president of Road to Recovery, a nonprofit providing services to and advocating for victims of abuse
Web Resources:
The Morning Call: Key Pennsylvania grand jury recommendation faces opposition from Catholic church
CNN:'How could this happen again?' Why this Catholic abuse scandal seems worse than 2002
New York Times: Why the Explosive Report on Catholic Church Abuse Is Unlikely to Yield Criminal Charges
Democracy Now: “This Church Is a Criminal Enterprise”: Former Priest & Survivor Speak Out on PA Catholic Sex Abuse
