Roman Catholic Diocese of Tucson in new book about sexual abuse

Catholic dioceses in 23 states, including Arizona, are discussed in the new book, Sacrilege: Sexual Abuse in the Catholic Church, which will be released at a news conference on Tuesday, Jan. 15 in Washington D.C.

The 675-page book chronicles the sex-abuse scandal that has rocked the Catholic Church in the United States and abroad.

Dioceses in Arizona, as well as 22 other states will be discussed in the book. Those other states include California, Connecticut, Massachusetts and Wisconsin.

The book’s author is Leon J. Podles, Ph.D., who worked for 20 years as a federal investigator. He spent more than 10 years researching and writing the book.

Thomas Doyle, a canon lawyer who has developed procedures for dealing with cases of sex abuse, will speak at the press conference announcing the book’s release. Doyle has called the scope of the cover-up in Tucson on par with Boston.

Like many other experts on the crisis, Doyle says Tucson was a dumping ground of sorts for abusers during the 1970s and 80s. The diocese has since made a $14 million settlement payment to victims of sexual abuse by clergy, as well as filed for and emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection – a move that resulted in another settlement pool for victims of $22 million.

The book was published by Crossland Press, a division of the Crossland Foundation of Baltimore, Maryland.

The abuse crisis has been a media mainstay since 2002 and some in the Catholic Church are tiring of the coverage, saying it’s time to move on.

But Podles said in a prepared statement that “attacking sexual abuse is not attacking the Catholic Church but is seeking to hold it to its own standards of justice and mercy and love.”
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