KEY POINTS

  • Colorado's investigation into sexual assaults of children by Catholic priests expanded to include nine more priests
  • That brings the total to at least 212 victims and 52 predators, operating from 1950 to 1999
  • This comes among ongoing revelations about the church's role in sheltering predators, including the varying complicity of the last three popes indicated by a recent internal investigation

A report released Tuesday from the Colorado attorney general's office named nine more Roman Catholic priests who have sexually abused children.

The total number of sexually abused children in Colorado has reached 212, according to the report. The children were mostly preyed upon in the 1960s.

The investigation comes after a Pennsylvania investigation in 2018 found similar allegations.

The latest filing brings the total of sexual predators within the ranks of Colorado’s catholic church to 52, nine more than the initial investigation revealed in 2019. Their crimes were uncovered by reviewing the church’s internal documents, the Associated Press reported.

Colorado’s investigation required the cooperation of the church because unlike in Pennsylvania, the Colorado attorney general cannot convene a grand jury. Pennsylvania’s investigation found at least 1,000 sexually assaulted children over seven decades by at least 300 priests.

Pope Francis embraces McCarrick in 2015
Pope Francis embraces disgraced priest McCarrick in 2015 POOL / Jonathan Newton

The accused priested are all variously dead or no longer working within the church. A day shelter for the homeless named for one priest was removed last year after the allegations came to light.

Denver Archbishop Samuel Aquila, Denver Bishop Jorge Rodriguez, Colorado Springs Bishop Michael Sheridan and Pueblo Bishop Stephen Berg released a joint statement saying they hoped the church’s victims could find some justice with the discoveries.

“We remain heartbroken by the pain they have endured, we again offer our deepest apologies for the past failures of the church, and we promise that we will always pray for continued healing for them and their families,” the statement read.

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