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Grand Jury Investigating Church Hierarchy

Officials Accused Of Moving Abusive Priests Around

POSTED: 5:31 pm EDT June 19, 2002

A grand jury in Boston is investigating whether criminal charges should be brought against some of the highest ranking leaders in the Catholic Church, including Cardinal Bernard Law.

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Sources told NewsCenter 5's Jack Harper that a grand jury has been working for months, looking at documents and gathering information for a criminal investigation into the Boston Archdiocese. Church leaders have been accused of moving priests from parish to parish after those priests were accused of sexual abuse.

Under state law, Attorney General Thomas Reilly cannot confirm whether a grand jury has been impaneled. He did not deny its existence and said that it is the duty of the state to investigate whether laws have been broken.

"We're going to move forward," Reilly said. "We understand that it is a very difficult road, that there are huge obstacles ahead of us."

Reilly would not say whether Law was the focus of an investigation. He said that the church leadership has not been held accountable for its actions.

"They have no benefit of the doubt after all that has happened," Reilly said. "They promised to change in 1993. Not much has happened. Not much happened in Rome a month or so ago, and not all that much when it comes to accountability happened in Dallas that week, so they have to be dealt with."

  SURVEY
A grand jury has been investigating whether Cardinal Bernard Law and other church officials should face criminal charges in the ongoing church sex abuse scandal. Should they?
The Coalition of Catholics and Survivors, a victims advocacy group, delivered a letter to the attorney general, urging a broader investigation.

"We would like to see nothing more than Cardinal Law and church leaders ... indicted for complicity," spokesman Joe Gallagher said.

In a written statement, archdiocese spokeswoman Donna Morrisey said that Reilly had the right to investigate the archdiocese.

"We respect the right of the attorney general to pursue the investigation with any means that are appropriate," Morrisey wrote.

Reilly acknowledged that there may be no criminal charges to file in the case.

"There may not be a criminal solution to this problem," he said. "We have an obligation to look and to take a thorough look at this, and we will."

Reilly could also not say how long a grand jury investigation would take.


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