Bishops must be held accountable for abuse, says advisory board

United State bishops' National Review Board on clergy sexual abuse has issued a strong statement saying that McCarrick scandal points to a "systemic problem within the Church that can no longer be ignored or tolerated by the episcopacy".

The board statement follows calls for bishops to be held accountable both for what has happened in the past and for abuses that take place in the future when they are found to be complicit, directly or indirectly.

"While the policies and procedures that have been implemented by the Church since 2002 to address the sexual abuse of minors by the clergy have resulted in a significant decrease of such abuse, the revelations of horrific incidents of abuse in the Pennsylvania Grand Jury Report, along with the abuse perpetrated by Archbishop McCarrick point to a systemic problem within the Church that can no longer be ignored or tolerated by the episcopacy in the United States," the board says. 

"The National Review Board has for several years expressed its concern that bishops not become complacent in their response to sexual abuse by the clergy. The recent revelations make it clear that the problem is much deeper.  We are saddened, angry, and hurt by what we have learned in the past few weeks.

"The evil of the crimes that have been perpetrated reaching into the highest levels of the hierarchy will not be stemmed simply by the creation of new committees, policies, or procedures. What needs to happen is a genuine change in the Church's culture, specifically among the bishops themselves. This evil has resulted from a loss of moral leadership and an abuse of power that led to a culture of silence that enabled these incidents to occur. Intimidation, fear, and the misuse of authority created an environment that was taken advantage of by clerics, including bishops, causing harm to minors, seminarians, and those most vulnerable.  The culture of silence enabled the abuse to go on virtually unchecked. Trust was betrayed for the victims/survivors of the abuse; the entire Body of Christ was betrayed in turn by these crimes and the failure to act.

"The National Review Board firmly believes, as has been expressed by several bishops in recent days, that the episcopacy needs to be held accountable for these past actions, and in the future, for being complicit, either directly or indirectly, in the sexual abuse of the vulnerable."

The board, set up by the bishops during their meeting in June of 2002, is an advisory body with the aim of preventing the sexual abuse of minors in the United States by people in the service of the Church.

The statement comes as Pennsylvania’s Attorney General says he has evidence the Vatican knew about a cover-up involving accusations of clerical sexual abuse.  "I can't specifically speak to Pope Francis," Josh Shapiro told NBC’s “Today" show on Tuesday. But he added: "We have evidence that the Vatican had knowledge of the cover-up.”