Vatican knew of abuse cover-up, prosecutor reiterates
Pope Francis greets the public as he travels through the city in the Popemobile on August 25, 2018, in Dublin, Ireland. (Photo by Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) - Pennsylvania's attorney general is repeating his accusation that the Vatican was complicit in the cover-up of the sexual abuse of children by Roman Catholic priests.
Attorney General Josh Shapiro's latest comments about the Vatican came during TV appearances Tuesday.
A state grand jury report released two weeks ago found that hundreds of priests in Pennsylvania had molested more than 1,000 children over the past 70 years. Shapiro said at the time that a church cover-up reached to the Vatican.
MORE: Pennsylvania priests molested over 1,000 children, per report | Key dates in the Pennsylvania church abuse scandal
The report revealed no internal Vatican documents and provided scant detail about the Vatican's role, beyond describing confidential reports that bishops made to the Vatican about abusive priests.
Pope Francis last year acknowledged the Catholic Church was slow to realize the damage done by abusive priests and said the decades-long practice of moving pedophiles around rather than sanctioning them was to blame.
For the full grand jury report, see here.
---
RELATED:
- Pope in Ireland decries abuse cover-up, meets with victims
- Priest abuse hotline gets 400-plus calls in wake of report
- Oral sex, then holy water: Report documents abuse by priests
- Pope on sex abuse: "We showed no care for the little ones"
- 2 local priests found unsuitable for ministry due to sex abuse, drug charges
- Catholics consider withholding donations amid child sex abuse scandals