Santorum meets with group on clergy sex abuse

July 22, 2005|Associated Press

WASHINGTON -- Senator Rick Santorum assured abuse victims yesterday that he would look into why the Justice Department has yet to respond to their request for an investigation of sexual abuse by Catholic clergy.

The meeting between Santorum, a Pennsylvania Republican who is Roman Catholic, and three members of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests was scheduled after some of its members expressed outrage over a column he wrote in 2002.

''When the culture is sick, every element in it becomes infected," Santorum wrote in the column. ''While it is no excuse for this scandal, it is no surprise that Boston, a seat of academic, political, and cultural liberalism in America, lies at the center of the storm."

Senator Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts criticized the column on the Senate floor last week.

The three SNAP members said Santorum stood by his comments, but they were pleased he agreed to contact the Justice Department. ''It's hard to say until we see what happens next," said Peter Isely, a member of the group's national board.

''I'm going to do my best to try to be helpful," Santorum said after the meeting.

The 2003 request that the organization filed with the Justice Department accuses the Catholic Church of ''conspiratorial acts" such as paying for sex offenders to move across state lines and withholding information about sex offenders.

The Justice Department did not respond to a request for comment yesterday.

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