SNAP Calling For Bishop David Zubik's Resignation
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PITTSBURGH (KDKA) --- Pittsburgh Bishop David Zubik is facing calls for his resignation in the wake of a sweeping state grand jury report on child sex abuse by Roman Catholic priests.
SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, released a statement Wednesday, saying Zubik should step down. It also said Catholics should stop donating to the Diocese of Pittsburgh until he resigns or takes proven steps that protect kids.
The Pittsburgh and Greensburg Roman Catholic dioceses, along with four others in Pennsylvania, were covered in the grand jury report released Tuesday. It says 301 Roman Catholic priests in Pennsylvania molested more than 1,000 children, and possibly many more, since the 1940s.
After the report's release, Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro accused Zubik and Cardinal Donald Wuerl, the former bishop of Pittsburgh, of protecting child predators. Both have denied the accusation.
- CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL REPORT AND LIST OF NAMES OF PREDATOR PRIESTS
- CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL LIST OF NAMES RELEASED BY THE CATHOLIC DIOCESE OF PITTSBURGH
- CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL LIST OF NAMES RELEASED BY THE CATHOLIC DIOCESE OF GREENSBURG
Since the Catholic church sex abuse crisis exploded in Boston in 2002, many dioceses have been forced to come clean by aggressive plaintiffs' attorneys, assertive prosecutors or relentless journalists.
Dioceses in Boston; Los Angeles; Seattle; Portland, Oregon; Denver; San Diego; Louisville, Kentucky; and Dallas have all paid multi-million dollar settlements to victims.
However, only a handful of bishops have resigned in the wake of child sex abuse scandals in their dioceses. According to BishopAccountability.org, there have been five such instances over the past 40 years.
2002
- Cardinal Bernard Law (Boston)
2011
- Bishop Daniel Walsh (Santa Rosa, Calif.)
2015
- Bishop Robert Finn (Kansas City-St. Joseph, Missouri)
- Archbishop John Nienstedt (St. Paul and Minneapolis)
- Auxiliary Bishop Lee Piché (St. Paul and Minneapolis)
Additionally, Theodore McCarrick resigned from the College of Cardinals in July following allegations of sex abuse. He is the highest-ranking American in the Catholic Church to ever be removed from the ministry. McCarrick was Wuerl's predecessor as archbishop of Washington, D.C. McCarrick resigned as archbishop in 2006, after reaching the traditional retirement age of 75.
BishopAccountability.org points out that no Pope has ever confirmed that he removed a bishop based on his handling of offending clergy.
