HARRISBURG (Pa.) – Pennsylvania State Attorney General Josh Shapiro urged the full releasing of a grand jury report on child sex abuse within the Catholic Church during a hearing Wednesday morning.
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court heard oral arguments involving the publication of the 40th Statewide Investigating Grand Jury’s Report on child sexual abuse by priests in the Catholic Church in six Dioceses and decades of alleged cover up by senior church officials.
Shapiro urged the publication of a full, unredacted report of the grand jury, including the names of every predator priest as identified by the grand jury’s two-year investigation. A redacted version was publicly released on August 14.
“The Office of Attorney General supports the release of a full, unredacted Report by the Grand Jury in its entirety,” Shapiro said. “Every name of a predator priest left redacted means the silencing of a victim’s voice. The Grand Jury Act is the vital tool for uncovering corruption in large, powerful organizations. Today we fought to protect that tool and to have the full report released to the public so that every victim’s story is told.”
“We appreciated and respected the opportunity to present our arguments today to the Supreme Court.”
