Catholic Church Under Scrutiny as DOJ Launches Investigation

Two months ago, reports of widespread sexual abuse among the Catholic community threw the ordinarily conservative religious group into a tizzy. For more than seven decades, Pennsylvania church leaders including bishops and cardinals covered up sexual abuse for more than 1,000 victims. Pope Francis has gleefully accepted the resignations of Cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick, who, according to the Grand Jury Report was accused of sexually abusing and violating both minors and seminarians along with Cardinal Donald Wuerl who was accused of mishandling cases of sexual abuse when it came to the priests in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

While there has always been rumors of sexual abuse within the Catholic Church, this is the first time that the Department of Justice has decided to get involved and perform an investigation of these claims. The state of Pennsylvania has a total of eight dioceses: Erie, Harrisburg, Greensburg, Pittsburgh, Allentown, Scranton, Altoona-Johnstown and of course, Philadelphia, all of whom had been subpoenaed by the United States Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. To date, all of the dioceses except for Altoona-Johnstown, have complied.

The importance of the Department of Justice getting involved in these allegations shows how the tides are turning when it comes to how sexual misconduct and abuse in the Catholic Church. What was once considered a safe haven decades ago, has turned to scandal and churches are beginning to see the effects of what they've covered up for too long.

Father Michael Stumpf of Saint Mary of the Mount in Pennsylvania, discussed this blowback stating, “Are we seeing fewer people coming to church, a decrease in people’s giving? Yes, some – a little. People let their voices be heard in one way or another.”

The investigation is surely going to reveal more information as I'm sure more and more victims are going to be coming forward about their own experiences. Parishioners want to be able to have these sexual abuse cases eliminated and for the Catholic Church and those who run it to be transformed, no longer under the guidance of those who have been burying these dark secrets for decades.

In an ironic twist of fate, so many parishioners reveal their sins, asking for forgiveness from those they deem to be infallible, only to have this information thrown in their faces. Pennsylvania parishioners are looking for answers, for redemption and for retribution. The Department of Justice investigation will surely be a good step forward in rectifying issues that should have never happened in the first place.