New England Churches Address 'Egregious Failures To Protect Children'
BOSTON (CBS) – On Sunday, priests across New England read a message from Cardinal Sean O'Malley, addressing the wave of recent abuse allegations in the Catholic Church.
"We remain ashamed by these egregious failures to protect children," read Father Brian Clary of St. Anne's Parish in Dorchester, who asked parishioners for patience. "As you know these past couple of weeks have not been easy for the church, beginning with the allegations of misconduct against archbishop and investigation of the local seminary here in Boston"
First were the claims of abuse from former seminarians and Saint John's seminary in Boston.
Then the pope accepted the resignation of Cardinal Theodore McCarrick after investigators said he sexually abused a teenager nearly 50 years ago while serving in New York.
Then came a bombshell from Pennsylvania. A grand jury said 300-plus priests sexually abused 1,000 children over the course of decades.
Speaking outside of Cardinal O'Malley's Church in Boston, organizations who assist sex abuse victims say O'Malley is not being fully transparent.
"The church has swept so much under the carpet and continue not to care," said Ruth Moore of Speak Truth in Power.
McCarrick has been removed from public ministry since June 20. Catholic bishops have launched investigations into sexual misconduct in seminaries in Boston, Nebraska and Philadelphia.