Massachusetts report reveals ‘nearly 1,000 children’ abused by hundreds of priests across 3 dioceses

Nearly 1,000 children were abused by hundreds of priests across three dioceses in Massachusetts for decades, a report by the state’s attorney general said.

The report, published on Sept. 30 , found evidence that “more than 270 Catholic clerics abused nearly 1,000 children over the course of a century in the Dioceses of Fall River, Springfield, and Worcester,” state Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell said.

Leaders of the three dioceses failed to respond to allegations of abuse over the years, the attorney general said; diocesan leadership often transferred accused priests to other parishes and “failed to consistently report allegations to law enforcement,” according to the report.

Among the contributing factors to the abuse epidemic, according to the report, was a “culture of reverence and indulgence” toward priests.

Around mid-century, priests “were viewed as holy, and their attention or attachment to a particular family was encouraged,” the report says. These social dynamics “allowed offending priests easy access to victims.”

The investigation was launched in 2019 and involved more than 300,000 pages of documentation as well as interviews with more than 100…