Pennsylvania’s top law enforcement official said Tuesday the Vatican knew of the alleged cover-up of predator priests — but stopped short of including the pope.
In an interview on Fox News’ "Shepard Smith Reporting," Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro, who issued a bombshell grand jury report revealing that more than 1,000 children were molested by 301 "predator priests" in six dioceses over decades, said "individuals put the reputation" of the church "ahead of people they’re supposed to be protecting."
"The facts and the evidence in this grand jury report clearly show that bishops and other church officials notified the Vatican of these predator priests," he said. "What happened after that, I don't know."
"The outrage that I hear, I think it speaks to a broader issue here," he continued. "Individuals put the reputation of their institution — in this case, the Catholic church, but could just as easy be Hollywood or a university or some government agency — they put the reputation of that institution ahead of the people they're supposed to be protecting. In this case, kids. It's absolutely unacceptable."
"The fact that these individuals covered it up in such a systematic way is really horrifying," he added. "It was done very purposefully…. to shield them from law enforcement, so folks like me couldn't charge these predators… couldn't charge these church officials with the cover-up that they should have been charged with."
He said the Catholic church needs to step up.
"This is a moment of accounting for institutions in this country and specifically for the Catholic church," he said. "How they respond to this, how they support victims, how they ensure that something like this can never happen again is still the story that has yet to be written. We've seen powerful words from the pope. I'll be curious to see the actions from the church."
In an earlier interview on "CBS This Morning," Shapiro also declared: "I can tell you that there is facts, there is evidence that takes this cover-up and what occurred in Pennsylvania directly to the Vatican."
The Vatican responded to the claim, telling CBS News: "If the prosecutor is referring to something outside the report, we'll have to wait for that."
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