... but republican lawmakers support pedophiles
Three years ago, residents of Pennsylvania were shocked at the results of a grand jury report that detailed exactly what the Catholic Church and its priests did to abuse and cover up horrific child sexual abuse in the state.
The country was shocked. Catholics in the state were shocked. Nothing, however, was ever done because of cowering legislators who are hiding behind legal technicalities.
The archbishop of Philadelphia at the time led an effort by Catholic lobbyists in the state like the “Pennsylvania Catholic Conference” to spend millions of dollars to prevent survivors from seeking justice for the horrific acts.
Survivors are speaking out, but again, nothing will be done because of Republicans in the state legislature who call themselves “Pro-Life.”
Today is the third anniversary
Although there was public repulsion at Pennsylvania for the transgressions of these Catholics, nothing has been done.
Nothing by the Catholic Church. Nothing by the state government. Nothing by the people of Pennsylvania.
Saturday marks the third anniversary of a landmark grand jury report that found Catholic church leaders in Pennsylvania covered up rampant sexual abuse involving hundreds of priests and at least 1,000 victims.
Thirteen states and Washington D.C. have since made it easier for victims to file civil suits.
But in Pennsylvania, many are still waiting for their day in court. The emotion felt by Mary McHale, Juliann Bortz and Shaun Dougherty over being sexually abused by priests as children is still raw …
All of their testimonies are in a 2018 Pennsylvania grand jury report revealing decades-long cover up in the Catholic church, and detailing alleged sexual abuse of at least 1,000 victims by more than 300 priests.
Nikki Battiste, “Survivors of clergy sexual abuse in Pennsylvania still looking for
justice 3 years after report,” CBS News, August 13, 2021
Hiding behind state constitution
While Republicans hide behind the state constitution as their reason for supporting pedophiles and refusing to have them seek justice, the survivors are continuing to seek justice,
Shaun Daugherty grew up in Johnstown and was abused by George Koharchik, a former priest at St. Clement’s in Upper Yoder Township. He condemned the action by the senate majority leader who refused to bring up the bill that was overwhelmingly approved by the House, but they will continue to fight,
In a statement to CBS News, Pennsylvania Senate Majority Leader Kim Ward said the state's constitution differs from others, and that legal experts suggest a statutory window there may be unconstitutional.
"Pennsylvania's becoming the absurd," Shaun said. "It's passed overwhelming bipartisan support for the judiciary, Senate, and our senate majority leader refuses to bring it up."
"Right now, I feel empowered," Mary said. "Cause every time I can speak out, it's the one thing I have control in over what happened to me and what happened to people I love."
The Pennsylvania survivors say they will keep fighting. Their message to other victims: You're not alone and it wasn't your fault.
Nikki Batiste, CBS News, August 13, 2021
And the sad part is the these people continue to believe that they will make it into heaven by protecting pedophiles.
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