This morning, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court heard oral arguments involving the publication of the 40th Statewide Investigating Grand Jury’s Report on child sexual abuse by priests in the Catholic Church in six Dioceses and decades of institutional cover up by senior church officials. At issue before the Court today was the publication of a full, unredacted Report of the Grand Jury, including the names of every predator priest as identified by the Grand Jury during its two-year investigation. An interim, redacted version of the Report was released to the public on August 14. Attorney General Shapiro issued the following statement following the conclusion of the oral argument before the Court:
“The Office of Attorney General supports the release of a full, unredacted Report by the Grand Jury in its entirety,” Attorney General Shapiro said. “Every name of a predator priest left redacted means the silencing of a victim’s voice.”
“The Grand Jury Act is the vital tool for uncovering corruption in large, powerful organizations. Today we fought to protect that tool and to have the full report released to the public so that every victim’s story is told”.
“We appreciated and respected the opportunity to present our arguments today to the Supreme Court,” Shapiro concluded.
