Warning: This article contains topics of child abuse that some readers may find disturbing
A damning report has shown the extent to which children were sexually abused by Catholic clergy in one US state - with as many as 600 minors falling victim to abuse.
The report, released by Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown, accuses 156 Catholic clergy members of sexual abuse that ranges over sixty years.
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The disturbing document reports: "From the 1940s through 2002, over a hundred priests and other Archdiocese personnel engaged in horrific and repeated abuse of the most vulnerable children in their communities while Archdiocese leadership looked the other way.
"Time and again, members of the Church’s hierarchy resolutely refused to acknowledge allegations of child sexual abuse for as long as possible."
This comes after an investigation was launched in 2018, during which thousands of documents were examined including treatment reports, personnel records, transfer reports and policies and procedures.
Accused of abuse alongside priests are clergy members, seminarians, deacons, teachers and other employees of the Archdiocese.
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Although 600 children were pinpointed as being the victims of abuse, the report estimates that the 'number is likely higher'.
This isn't the first time that Catholic clergy has been implicated in allegations of sexual misconduct against minors.
A 2,500 page report released in October 2021 found that French Catholic clergy had abused hundreds of thousands of children since the 1950s.
The report, which came after two years of research, estimated that 220,000 French children had fallen victim to predatory adults within the Church. But the number could have been as high as 300,000.
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The late former Pope Benedict was even implicated in the ongoing controversy, when he was accused of misconduct in a 2022 report.
Benedict, whose name was Josef Ratzinger, was accused in a report released by a German law firm, of failing to act on information he allegedly received in four child abuse cases.
The misconduct is said to have taken place during his time working as archbishop of Munich and Freising from 1977 to 1982, during which time a now-notorious paedophile priest named Peter Hullermann was transferred to Munich after being accused of abusing an 11-year-old boy.
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Despite the allegations against Hullermann, he reassigned to pastoral duties and continued to work with children for many years even after being convicted.
In response to the law firm, the late pope released a statement which said he ‘takes the fates of the abuse victims very much to heart’ and is fully ‘in favour of the publication of the Munich report’.
If you’ve been affected by any of these issues and want to speak to someone in confidence regarding the welfare of a child, contact the National Center for Healthy Safe Children on The Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline: 1-800-4-A-CHILD (1-800-422-4453)
Topics: Sexual Abuse, Crime, World News