This week in Christian history: ‘Like as the Hart’ written, Catholic Church abuse scandal, Anglican bishop born

By Michael Gryboski, Mainline Church Editor Sunday, January 03, 2021

Catholic Church priest abuse scandal gains headlines – Jan. 6, 2002

Cardinal Bernard Law. | (Screenshot: YouTube/Associated Press)

This week marks the anniversary of when the Boston Globe’s Spotlight team published the first in a series around 600 news articles exposing the Catholic Church’s priest abuse scandal.

Titled “Church allowed abuse by priest for years,” the story focused on former priest John J. Geoghan, who had allegedly abused over 130 people, yet Church leadership moved him from parish to parish while being aware of the allegations.

The revelations eventually led to the resignation of Cardinal Bernard Law, head of the Boston Archdiocese, as well as additional investigations in dioceses across the world.

“This is absolutely an example of what happens when for decades people didn’t question authority. We’ve all talked about this, because we were all raised Catholic,” said Sacha Pfeiffer, one of the Spotlight reporters, in an interview with The New Yorker in 2015.

“I had a grandmother who always had a rosary in her pocket, a mom who wanted to be a nun. When you’ve grown up in that kind of family, you understand how they wouldn’t ask questions.”