Federal Gov’t Launches Criminal Probe Into Catholic Church in PA
WASHINGTON (ChurchMilitant.com) - The federal government has issued subpoenas to multiple Pennsylvania dioceses in a criminal probe into sex abuse cover-up. The subpoenas were served last week, but news of the investigation only broke Thursday.
So far, seven out of eight Pennsylvania dioceses — Erie, Philadelphia, Harrisburg, Allentown, Scranton, Pittsburgh and Greensburg — have confirmed they have received subpoenas, some stating they will cooperate with the investigation. Two Eastern Catholic dioceses are also being investigated: the Byzantine Archeparchy of Pittsburgh and the Ukrainian Catholic Archeparhcy of Philadelphia.
The investigation is being spearheaded by U.S. Attorney General William McSwain, who is asking clergy to testify before a grand jury in Philadelphia with regard to possible federal crimes. Bishops are being asked to turn over documents stored in their secret archives, which contain information about clergy misconduct including sex abuse. Bishops are also being asked to hand over evidence of: priests transporting children across state lines for illegal purposes, priests sending or receiving sexual imagery on their phones or computers, clergy being told not to contact law enforcement, predator priests being reassigned; or money being used for illegal purposes.
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