Massachusetts AG releases scathing report on Boston sex abuse

Social justice news
August 2003

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Massachusetts AG releases scathing report on Boston sex abuse
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Massachusetts AG releases scathing report on Boston sex abuse
Massachusetts Attorney General Thomas Reilly issued a scathing 76-page report, "The Sexual Abuse of Children in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston,"on July 23. The report details the findings of his office’s 16-month investigation into the handling of sexual abuse of children by Catholic clergy in the Boston Archdiocese. Reilly called the scandal "the greatest tragedy to befall children in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts ever." While the investigation found that top church officials were aware of the abuse and tried to keep it secret, Reilly's office reports that no criminal charges could be filed because child-protection laws in existence at the time of the abuses were too weak.

"What we have found, what we have learned and what we have documented in the course of this investigation borders on the unbelievable," said Reilly. "No one is more disappointed than I and my staff that we cannot bring criminal charges against top management."

The report details the institutional failure of archdiocesan officials to protect children before and during Cardinal Bernard Law's tenure as archbishop. It describes how the archdiocese's "culture of secrecy" and its "misguided priorities" allowed pedophile priests to sexually abuse more children even after Law and top managers knew the magnitude of the harm.

"The sexual abuse of children of such staggering magnitude and over several decades is nothing less than a complete failure of leadership," Reilly said in a statement. "Even after knowing the scope of the abuse, top officials of the archdiocese chose to protect their own priests and the reputation of the institution rather than protecting children."

Despite its findings, the reports concludes that: "The archdiocese has yet to demonstrate an appropriate sense of urgency for attacking the problem of child sexual abuse or for changing its culture to remove the risk to children."

According to the AG's report, since 1940, 237 priests and 13 Church employees allegedly abused at least 789 children. Of the 250 priests and Church workers, 202 allegedly abused children between 1940 and 1984, with the remaining 48 allegedly abusing children during Cardinal Law’s tenure as archbishop.

"The magnitude of it is simply staggering . . . I have no doubt that the number [of victims] is far greater," said Reilly, adding that the figures were taken from the archdiocese's own records.

The report attributes the "massive" number of incidents of clergy sexual abuse to an "institutional reluctance to adequately address the problem" and to the "secrecy" involved—transferring priests without notifying the parish or diocese that there was a history of abuse. The attorney general urged the church to be more open in the future and to communicate with the laity, with the priests in the archdiocese, with interreligious leaders, and with public officials.

Reilly called the conduct of the Boston leadership “while not criminal… absolutely deplorable.” According to the report, top officials knew the extent of the clergy sexual abuse for many years before it became known to the public. It describes "overwhelming evidence" that for many years Cardinal Law and his senior managers had direct, actual knowledge that substantial numbers of children in the Archdiocese had been sexually abused by substantial numbers of its priests. "Any claim by the Cardinal or the Archdiocese's senior managers that they did not know about the abuses suffered by, or the continuing threat to, children in the Archdiocese is simply not credible."

Father Christopher Coyne, spokesman for the archdiocese, said that before the archdiocese could respond to the 76-page report, the document's findings and recommendations had to be carefully reviewed. But, reading from a prepared statement he said the archdiocese "reiterates its commitment" to demonstrate the points mentioned in the report. The archdiocese, he said, "will treat sexual abuse of a child as a criminal matter . . . will end any culture of secrecy in the handling of such matters . . . will adopt and implement comprehensive and effective measures to prevent child abuse . . . will appropriately respond to any allegations of abuse.

"The archdiocese is committed to work at every level to ensure the safety of children," the statement said.

The investigation did not find evidence of recent or ongoing sexual abuse of children in the archdiocese. However, Reilly stopped short of attributing this to the child protection efforts undertaken by the archdiocese.

"The archdiocese has yet to demonstrate a commitment to the protection of children that is proportional to the harm committed over the decades,” he said. The archdiocese he said must display this commitment not only through its policies, but also through its actions.

The report stated that "vigilant oversight" of the archdiocese’s efforts to protect children would be necessary until the church in Boston "clearly and unmistakably" demonstrates:

the understanding that it is criminal to sexually abuse a child;

an end to the culture of secrecy;

that comprehensive and effective measures have been adopted and implemented to prevent the sexual abuse of children;

that allegations of child sexual abuse are responded to appropriately;

that the archdiocese is accountable for ensuring the protection of children.

According to Reilly, an important step in protecting children already has been taken by the state legislature—making church officials mandated reporters of sexual abuse.

Officials whose conduct is detailed in the report include Cardinal Law, Bishop Thomas Daily, Bishop Robert Banks, Archbishop Alfred Hughes, Bishop William Murphy, and Bishop John McCormack. Reilly noted that some of these leaders are still in "positions of responsibility" in other dioceses. He said that the church should reexamine whether those officials should remain in top positions.

The report was released just days before the installation of Boston's new archbishop, Sean O'Malley. O'Malley, who has helped the church weather other sex-abuse scandals in the Fall River, New Jersey and Palm Beach, Florida diocese, is widely expected to take a more pastoral approach than his predecessors in resolving the Boston crisis. A day after his installation Mass on July 30, O'Malley replaced the legal team representing the archdiocese in more than 500 civil lawsuits by people who claim they were sexually abused by priests.

O'Malley appointed Boston attorney Thomas Hannigan as lead counsel for the archdiocese in handling the sex abuse claims. Hannigan helped O'Malley settle abuse cases when O'Malley was bishop in the Fall River diocese a decade ago.

O'Malley brought Hannigan into the settlement talks shortly after he was named as Boston's new archbishop on July 1. on July 31, O'Malley named him lead counsel, replacing the Rogers Law Firm, which has handled sex abuse cases for the archdiocese for many years.

"It is my hope that Attorney Hannigan's expertise in facilitating settlements in matters such as this will move the process towards a just and timely resolution," O'Malley said in a statement.

Lawyers for alleged victims of clergy abuse had complained that lawyers at the Rogers firm took an unrealistically hard line in settlement negotiations.

During his homily at the installation, O'Malley said, "How we ultimately deal with the present crisis in our church will do much to define us as Catholics of the future. If we do not flee from the cross of pain and humiliation, if we stand firm in who we are and what we stand for, if we work together, hierarchy, priests, religious and laity, to live our faith and fulfill our mission then, we will be a stronger and a holier church.

"This should be of some consolation to those victims who have opened old wounds in their own hearts by coming forward. Your pain will not be in vain if our Church and our nation become a safer place for children.

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