The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has ordered the release of a redacted copy of a grand jury report on sexual abuse by clergy members that includes a list of more than 300 “predator priests.”
The Philadelphia Inquirer reported Friday that the public copy of the report will not include the names of more than 20 current and former clergy members who have fought in court to not be identified in the report.
“There can be no doubt that the subject matter of the report is incendiary, and therefore, the stakes for individuals reproached therein are substantially heightened,” Chief Justice Thomas Saylor wrote in the court’s 31-page order.
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The justices ordered Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro’s office to remove identifying information about the clergy members challenging the full document’s release from the more than 800-page report.
The report documents decades of allegations of abuse and cover-ups in six of the state’s eight Catholic dioceses, according to the news site.
According to the Inquirer, the interim report could be released by Aug. 8 if all parties involved approve of the redactions.
If any disputes arise, a special master will be appointed to mediate the differences and the report will be released by Aug. 14.
Attorneys for the clergy members challenging the full report’s release told the Inquirer that they were pleased by the court’s decision.
“The Supreme Court recognized that it was both possible and necessary to protect the constitutional due-process rights of a small group of wrongly accused individuals without undermining the public’s legitimate interest in this grand jury report,” attorney Stephen Stallings, who represented two of the petitioners, told the paper.
Shapiro, the attorney general, has pushed for the full report to be released.
He said in a statement Friday that he will “continue to fight to ensure every single victim is heard and every priest, bishop, and church official is held accountable for their abhorrent conduct.”