(PA) Catholic bishop warns that grand jury report on priest sex abuse is graphic, sobering

Erie, PA Catholic Bishop Lawrence T. Persico, who like other bishops in Pennsylvania has read a grand jury report into child sex crimes in the Catholic Church, warns that the report will name former bishops. "It certainly is going to be sobering," said Bishop Lawrence Persico, the head of the Erie Diocese. "The report is rather graphic, and it will be very detailed on what has occurred."

The findings, which exceed 800 pages, are widely expected to expose decades-old abuse of children at the hands of priests in the dioceses of Harrisburg, Pittsburgh, Allentown, Scranton, Erie and Greensburg (Pennsylvania).

Persico has distinguished himself among the five other bishops whose dioceses were investigated in releasing to the public not only the names of priests but lay people who have been credibly accused of child sex crimes or failing to stop those crimes. Persico is widely considered the first bishop in the United States to do that.

Persico last week amended a list of credibly accused predators in the Erie Diocese, adding five names to its public list and placing a priest on administrative leave. Persico earlier this year ordered the resignation of David Poulson, a priest at St. Anthony of Padua Church in Cambridge Springs. Poulson was identified by investigators as an alleged predator. Attorney General Josh Shapiro's office arrested Poulson in May; he was charged with multiple child sex crimes.

https://www.pennlive.com/news/2018/07/catholic_bishop_warns_that_gra.html

Erie, PA Catholic Bishop Lawrence T. Persico