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

Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell released a report on September 30 stating that more than 270 Catholic clerics abused nearly 1,000 children over a century within the Dioceses of Fall River, Springfield, and Worcester.

The investigation, which began in 2019, analyzed over 300,000 pages of documents and included interviews with more than 100 people, including victims. The report claims diocesan leaders failed to respond to abuse allegations and often transferred accused priests to different parishes instead of consistently reporting the claims to law enforcement.

According to the attorney general, a culture of reverence toward priests contributed to the abuse. The report notes that around the middle of the century, priests were viewed as holy figures, and their close attachments to specific families were encouraged, which gave offending priests easy access to victims. This specific report covers all dioceses in Massachusetts except the Archdiocese of Boston.