After 2 days of silence, Vatican condemns priest sex abuse as 'morally reprehensible'

Jorge L. Ortiz | USA TODAY

Show Caption Hide Caption Grand Jury: Over 1,000 victims of priest abuse A Pennsylvania grand jury has found that more than 300 clergy members committed sexual abuse over a period of decades. Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro says the probe found a systematic cover-up by senior church officials. (Aug. 15)

After two days of deafening silence, the Vatican on Thursday condemned newly revealed sex abuses that raged for decades in six dioceses in Pennsylvania as "criminal and morally reprehensible.”

“Those acts were betrayals of trust that robbed survivors of their dignity and faith,” Vatican spokesman Greg Burke said in a statement, adding that the victims should know Pope Francis is on their side.

Until Thursday, the Vatican had declined to address the allegations from a scathing 884-page grand jury report about the abuse.

Expressing "shame and sorrow'' for the Vatican, Burke's strongly worded statement said "The church must learn hard lessons from its past, and there should be accountability for both abusers and those who permitted abuse to occur.”

► Aug. 16: Catholic church in Pa. had 'playbook' to keep priest abuse secret, FBI said

► Aug. 16: 40 Pennsylvania priests confessed their crimes; little was done afterward

► Aug. 15: 'Men of God' kept it secret as priests systematically abused kids

The report, released Tuesday, alleges that more than 300 “predator priests’’ had been accused of raping and sexually molesting more than 1,000 kids over a period of 70 years. The Catholic Church had engaged in a “systematic cover-up’’ while shifting the abusive priests from one parish to another, the report says.

Also Thursday, U.S. bishops urged the Vatican to conduct an investigation into former Washington, D.C., archbishop Theodore McCarrick, who resigned from the College of Cardinals in July amid allegations that he sexually abused minors and adult seminarians for decades.

The bishops also said they would establish a mechanism for victims to report sexual abuse by the clergy without church interference.

Details of the grand jury report have horrified members of the church and non-Catholics alike with stunning revelations. Among them: a priest molested a 7-year-old girl during a visit to a hospital where she had her tonsils removed; priests shared naked photos of abuse victims; a priest arranged an abortion after impregnating a girl he had raped; and a priest got a reference letter for a Disney World job after years of complaints about his abusive acts.

The grand jury also said the number of abused children was in the thousands. But an exact figure is hard to pinpoint because some records have been lost and many of the victims did not come forward because they were intimidated or persuaded to stay quiet while the church shielded the abusers.

“Priests were raping little boys and girls, and the men of God who were responsible for them not only did nothing; they hid it all. For decades,’’ the grand jury wrote.

Francis, who became the leader of the Catholic Church five years ago, has been criticized in the past for not addressing forcefully enough the issue of clergy sexual abuse.

► Aug. 15: Priest recommended for Disney World job after sexual abuse allegations

► Aug. 14: Church protected more than 300 'predator priests,' grand jury says

However, the director of a new documentary about the pope portrayed him in a May interview as deeply disturbed by the sex abuse crisis.

“Each time, this was the most agitated and the most furious he got, and you realized it was something that tormented him so much,’’ said Wim Wenders, who directed "Pope Francis – A Man of His Word."

“He really got very adamant: 'Tolerencia cero.' ‘Zero tolerance’ was really from the heart. It was the angriest thing he said in the entire interview.”

Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro had sent Francis a letter in July warning him that his office’s 18-month investigation has discovered “widespread sexual abuse of children and a systematic cover-up by leaders of the Catholic Church,’’ CNN reported.

The Vatican never responded.

The impact of the grand jury report has been felt far and wide.

McCarrick's replacement in Washington, Cardinal Donald Wuerl, came under some criticism in the report for his handling of sexual abuse cases during his tenure as bishop of Pittsburgh from 1988 to 2006. The report indicated Wuerl steered some accused priests away from parishes but let others return.

At the Catholic high school named for Wuerl in the Pittsburgh suburb of Cranberry, Pennsylvania, a group of alumni has started a petition to have the name changed.

Wuerl, who has retained the international law firm Jones Day to represent him, issued a statement defending his conduct in Pittsburgh.

“While I understand this Report may be critical of some of my actions, I believe the Report confirms that I acted with diligence, with concern for the victims and to prevent future acts of abuse,'' he said. "I sincerely hope that a just assessment of my actions, past and present, and my continuing commitment to the protection of children will dispel any notions otherwise made by this report.”

Contributing: The Associated Press. Follow Jorge L. Ortiz on Twitter: @jorgelortiz

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