Survivors, lawyers say documents prove priest sex abuse cover-up

The Archdiocese has apologized for its handling of cases such as this. In a statement, it  acknowledged that leaders “made some decisions decades ago that are now difficult to justify.”

“The pain and the suffering of victims and their families is just something that continues to haunt me, and I think it is also a terrible thing for the church,” said Bishop Francis Kane, who oversees pastoral care for the Archdiocese.

But Kane denied there was an orchestrated cover-up. “I don’t believe there was ever an intention to hide what has happened,” he said. “What happened, I believe, is we’ve had a change in understanding. Forty years ago when many of these incidents took place, we treated sex abuse in a very different way.”

The Archdiocese points out that nearly all these cases happened before 1988. None of the 30 priests remain in active ministry. Half are dead.

The attorneys for the victims do acknowledge some things are better, including a program to help victims and training to recognize abusers.

But they say they see signs of similar patterns still occurring.

In the past decade, Father Joseph Bennett was accused of multiple allegations, including penetrating a girl’s rectum with the handle of a communion server. In a letter to the Gary (Ind.) Diocese, asking for help monitoring Bennett, the Archdiocese said it only knew of one allegation.

Attorney Jeff Anderson points out review board reporting to Cardinal Francis George — Bernadin’s successor — recommended Bennett’s removal from priesthood.

“Cardinal George, instead of following that recommendation, took the Bennett file and made his own determination, notwithstanding the fact one of the witnesses in that file described Bennett’s scrotum,” Anderson said.

The Cardinal said in documents that he interceded to make sure Bennett — who, like many of the priests, has maintained his innocence — had a canon lawyer.

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