NY Investigation Looms as Campaign for Transparency Continues

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Following upon revelations regarding homosexual abuse committed by the ex-Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, and the shocking details made in the Pennsylvania grand jury investigation of clerical sex abuse, the Lepanto Institute took out radio ads in New York. The 60-second radio spot asks what Cdl. Timothy Dolan knew about the scandals and calls upon him to "stop hiding the truth" and to "release all documents pertaining to predatory priests."

The $25,000 radio spot, which was paid for by donors upset by Cdl. Dolan's mishandling of sexual misconduct by priests in New York, ran during primetime talk radio programs for the past two weeks.

Just as the time period of the ad was coming to a close, New York Attorney General Barbara Underwood filed subpoenas with all eight of the Catholic dioceses in New York, requesting all documents regarding sex abuse allegations against Catholic clergy, including pay-outs and internal investigations.

"The Pennsylvania grand jury report shined a light on incredibly disturbing and depraved acts by Catholic clergy, assisted by a culture of secrecy and cover-ups in the dioceses," Underwood stated. "Victims in New York deserve to be heard as well and we are going to do everything in our power to bring them the justice they deserve."

A spokesman for the archdiocese of New York said that they are "eager" to work with the attorney general's office on the investigation. Joseph Zwilling, the director of communications for the archdiocese, said, "Since 2002, the archdiocese has shared with its 10 District Attorneys all information they have sought concerning allegations of sexual abuse of minors, and has established excellent working relationships with each of them."

Church Militant's Christine Niles, speaking on the latest episode of The Download, expressed concern over at least one New York district attorney's possible handling of this investigation owing to her botched investigation of homosexual priest Fr. Peter Miqueli. The Bronx district attorney, Darcel Clark, cleared Fr. Miqueli of criminal charges after parishioners filed a lawsuit against Cdl. Dolan and the archdiocese.

"I don't think [The Bronx district attorney] can be trusted because she essentially cleared [Fr. Miqueli]," Niles said. "There's evidence that he embezzled hundreds of thousands, possibly a million dollars — and they have the bank statements! As far as we know, she never interviewed Miqueli's brothers … she never interviewed the parishioners who were suing."

After Underwood announced the subpoenas, Cdl. Dolan told a local CBS affiliate that he encouraged transparency, saying, "I really worry about a loss of credibility, a loss of trust. There's no use denying it. We can't sugarcoat this, this is disastrous."

Michael Hichborn, founder and president of the Lepanto Institute, told Church Militant that Cdl. Dolan should have acted prior to the subpoenas.

"We know that Catholics have been calling the archdiocese for the past two weeks, as our ad suggested, demanding the release of information regarding sexually deviant priests," Hichborn said. "If Cardinal Dolan is so concerned about transparency and credibility, then why did it take an investigation from the attorney general's office to get him to act?"

Shortly after the subpoenas were issued in New York the state of New Jersey announced its own investigation. New Mexico announced one the day before.

Last week, Church Militant detailed the pipeline of homosexual seminarians that were brought up from South America to New Jersey and spread throughout the East Coast. And this past June, Hichborn conducted an investigation into an association of priests promoting homosexuality at an annual meeting in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

"Catholics must remember that the real issue at the heart of this scandal is the network of homosexual priests in the Catholic Church," Hichborn said. "Until there is a complete investigation of homosexuals active in the priesthood, and they are all removed from public ministry, this scandal will only continue."

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