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Nearly 1,000 children were abused over several decades by more than 270 priests in three Catholic dioceses in Massachusetts, according to an investigative report released on Wednesday.
The report, published by Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell, details more than five decades of alleged child sexual abuse in the Fall River, Springfield and Worcester dioceses and the Catholic Church authorities’ failures to stop it.
Most of the reported abuse occurred before 2002, when a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigation by The Boston Globe exposed how officials of the Archdiocese of Boston had routinely concealed allegations of child abuse by priests. The revelations prompted investigations into similar cases across Catholic dioceses worldwide.
Campbell said authorities in the three Massachusetts dioceses knew that children were being abused by priests but prioritised protecting the Church’s reputation over protecting children.
“Behind every number is a child who was abused, a family forever changed, and a person who has carried the pain of that abuse for years, and in many cases decades,” Campbell said.
The Worcester Diocese said it would review the report and consider what more could be done to support survivors of past abuse while strengthening child-protection measures.
Fall River Bishop Edgar da Cunha apologised to survivors, saying he was deeply saddened by the failures and neglect in protecting children in the past.
The investigation into the three dioceses began in 2019 under then-Attorney General Maura Healey, who is now Massachusetts governor. It examined whether the dioceses or their leaders were responsible for failing to supervise priests accused of abusing children.
Campbell said her office referred three matters to local district attorneys during the investigation. Criminal charges were brought in one Worcester case. No other criminal prosecutions were filed because some conduct was not criminalised at the time and the statute of limitations had expired in several cases.
Campbell, who said she was herself abused by a relative during childhood, called for further legal reforms, including removing the statute of limitations for civil claims involving childhood abuse.