Catholic church investigation

Deep within the litany of outrages by the Catholic Church documented by the Maryland Office of the Attorney General report, there is a revelation as shocking as the predatory priests or the religious bureaucracy eager to hide its sins.

Archbishop William Lori's homily at the Cathedral of Mary Our Queen came just four days after the release of the Attorney General's years-long investigation into sexual abuse and cover-up in Maryland churches.

Mayor Brandon Scott should remove Baltimore homeowner properties from the tax sale auction, as he did last year, Allison Harris, director of the Home Preservation Project at the Pro Bono Resource Center of Maryland, says. Campuses of historically Black colleges in Maryland are among those urgently in need of modernization, Paul Clary, co-founder of MD Energy Advisors, says; the work of the state Attorney General's Office in the Baltimore Archdiocese sex abuse investigation merits praise, a city resident says.

The filings kept on a handful of priests were known as “The Bad Boy Files,” 32 names were not to include on the church's credibly accused list, and colluding with the Archdiocese of Washington were revealed in the investigation.

The Maryland Office of the Attorney General released a report Wednesday, which details decades of child sexual abuse and said more than 100 priests or other archdiocesan personnel were accused abusers, but many names of alleged abusers were redacted.

The Maryland Office of the Attorney General on Wednesday released the 456-page grand jury report, but litigation over issues including redactions will continue to play out.

Maskell is accused of abusing at least 39 people and doing nothing about colleagues who also abused children.

The examples include priests who asked victims to delay reporting their abuse so they could reach retirement age; prosecutors who agreed not to pursue criminal charges against known abusers; and even a secret deal with a Baltimore County judge to resolve a case quietly.

The Banner has made a searchable database of every sex abuser identified in the report, including the 32 names not previously known publicly.

“We have issued subpoenas. We have been looking into this matter. And we will continue to do so,” Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown said on Wednesday.

Survivors of abuse by Baltimore Catholic Church personnel expressed relief that report was finally public, but some were disappointed so much information had been redacted.

The vote came under special circumstances, with lawmakers suspending the rules so they could fast-track the bill on the significant day.

The report identifies 158 priests — most of them already known — within the archdiocese accused of the “sexual abuse” and “physical torture” of more than 600 victims over the past 80 years. Investigators told the court there are likely hundreds more victims.

Developments from the long-anticipated 456-page grand jury report detailing allegations of sexual abuse and cover-up in the Archdiocese of Baltimore.

The report identified 158 priests who are accused of “sexual abuse” and “physical torture” of more than 600 people in the last 80 years.

Baltimore Circuit Judge Robert K. Taylor Jr. on Tuesday approved the release of the report “as the Office of the Attorney General shall see fit.”

Across the United States, various institutions that have faced sexual abuse allegations ranging from the Boy Scouts of America to USA Gymnastics have filed for bankruptcy. Could the Archdiocese of Baltimore follow?

Legislation would enable more civil lawsuits against churches, schools and other institutions that employed or supervised perpetrators of child sexual abuse.

Here’s where legislative priorities stand with less than 30 days remaining in the 2023 General Assembly.

Monday is the deadline for attorneys to submit their suggested redactions to a 456-page investigation before a judge is expected to release it.