There should probably be a warning to all those who choose to read the recently-released report by the Maryland Attorney General’s Office chronicling 80 years of child sexual abuse within Baltimore’s Catholic archdiocese. From the sometimes explicit descriptions of rape, torture and molestation to the cover-ups and gross negligence demonstrated by the practice of shipping out known abusers to unsuspecting schools and parishes, it is a stomach-turning read. Never mind that many of these abusers are long dead and buried — as are many of their enablers — the damage done lives on.
And yet there is also an extraordinary comfort in knowing the survivors of these crimes, who pushed hard to get this report written over the last five years, can finally have their stories told. The 456-page investigation covering the actions of 158 church officials, many of them priests, surely provides some modicum of relief to those who thought justice might never be done, their voices heard, their suffering acknowledged by the rest of us. The report alludes to 600 victims but there are likely more who have not yet chosen to speak out, perhaps feeling unwarranted shame or guilt or fear of reprisal or judgment or even lack of public interest.
Let the word go out: You are not alone. You can be heard. And, maybe, some degree of justice can be done.
