More of 150 Catholic priests and others associated with the archdiocese of baltimore sexually abused more than 600 children in the past 80 years, according to a state report released Wednesday that accused church officials of decades of cover-up.
The report, issued by the Maryland attorney general’s office, paints a damning picture of the archdiocese, the oldest in the country. Some parishes, schools and congregations had more than one abuser at the same timeincluding St. Mark’s Parish in Catonsville, which had 11 abusers living and working there between 1964 and 2004.
“The staggering pervasiveness of the abuse itself underscores the culpability of the Church hierarchy,” the report says. “The large number of abusers and victimsthe depravity of the abusers’ behavior and the frequency with which known abusers were given the opportunity to continue to harass children is staggering.
It’s known that more than 600 children have been abused by the 156 people included in this report, but the number is likely much higher.”
The post marks a major milestone in an ongoing legal battle and adds to mounting evidence from parishes across the country as similar revelations have rocked the Catholic Church in recent years.
In addition, the state legislature passed a law that eliminates the statute of limitations on civil cases related to abuse and sent it to the governor for his sanction.
Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown, who has held the position since January, released the report. Before a press conference, he met with several victims to summarize the content and thank them for their presence.
“What we have learned is that the incontrovertible story uncovered by this investigation is one of widespread, pernicious and persistent abuse by priests and archdiocese personnel,” Brown said during the news conference. “At the same time it is a story of repeated cover-ups of that abuse by the Catholic Church.”
The report focuses largely on the years prior to 2002, when a investigation of the Boston Globe newspaper about abuses and cover-ups in the Archdiocese of Boston led to an explosive series of revelations across the country. For the first time, Catholic bishops have agreed to reforms that include a lifetime ban from ministry for a priest found to have committed a single abuse.
The report highlights that although new national regulations significantly improved the internal management of reported abuses in the Archdiocese of Baltimore as of 2002, flaws still persisted, including that the public list of abusers did not include all known abusers; the independent review board is limited to information provided by church officials about alleged abuses; and some alleged abusers were allowed to withdrawwith financial support, instead of expelling them.
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