Attorney General Maura Healey said she is “actively reviewing” the existing policies and procedures that surround the reporting of cases of sexual misconduct after several Catholic advocacy groups have called on her office to investigate the personnel records of all Massachusetts archdioceses.
"We’ve been in touch with the archdiocese, we’ve been in touch with the district attorney’s offices," Healey said during an interview with Boston Public Radio Tuesday. She later said, "I want to make sure that there are answers, and that there is accountability. ... We cannot allow that kind of conduct to continue, and the coverup, and the hiding, and the failure to deal with this."
Read More: Healey Mum On Laity Call For Renewed Church Investigation
Activist groups, including Catholic Democrats and Voice of the Faithful, are calling for an update to the 2003 investigation into priest sex abuse and a full investigation of dioceses in Fall River, Worcester and Springfield.
Healey stated that "any report or allegation of abuse will be thoroughly investigated and addressed, either by my office or by another office."
"I do want to underscore I think that the message and what we’ve seen out of Rome and the Pope frankly doesn’t cut it," Healey said. "The U.S. Conference of Bishops I think are meeting this morning, right now in Baltimore, and to my mind this has been an institution that is still way behind the ball in terms of where it needs to be."
"I feel bad for the men and women who work in the church, who are doing great things in our communities on a lot of fronts," Healey said, "but understandably this is driving people away from the church, and I say that as a Catholic. Until they get things right, I think you’re just going to continue to see more people leave the church."
