Please try another search
© Reuters. Members of the Southern Baptist Convention executive committee vote on a motion during their meeting at Music City Center in Nashville, Tennessee, U.S. June 14, 2021. Picture taken June 14, 2021. George Walker IV/USA Today Network via REUTERS
2/2
(This May 22 story corrects 2nd paragraph to say "information" instead of "secrets." Refers throughout to 'Convention' rather than 'church')
By Rich McKay
ATLANTA (Reuters) - For decades, complaints of sex abuse by pastors and staff in the largest U.S. Protestant denomination, the Southern Baptist Convention, were either ignored or covered up by top clergy, according to an internal report released on Sunday.
The nearly 300-page report details how complaints were kept as "closely guarded information" within the Convention to avoid liability, "to exclusion of all other considerations," it said.
"In service to this goal, survivors and others who reported abuse were ignored, disbelieved," the report said, with leaders covering up accusations and allowing accused clergy members to remain pastors or in other positions of authority.
Lawsuits against the Convention were denigrated as "opportunistic" and not having merit, it added.
The year-long investigation was initiated by the Southern Baptist Convention in June 2021, when a stream of complaints were raised at its annual meeting. The complaints focused on sexual abuse by pastors and volunteers and the lack of response by the religious body's executive committee.
A representative of the Southern Baptist Convention, which claims more than 13 million members in the United States and more than 40 million worldwide, was not immediately available for comment.
The scandal echoes the one faced by the Roman Catholic Church, which has been rocked by allegations of sexual abuse, when the Boston Globe newspaper revealed in 2002 that church hierarchy covered up sexual misconduct by its clergy for decades.
The U.S. Catholic Church has paid out an estimated $3.2 billion to settle clergy abuse cases, according to BishopAccountability.org, which tracks the issue.
In 2019, the Houston Chronicle and the San Antonio Express-News reported that more than 700 victims had been abused by pastors, leaders and volunteers in Southern Baptist congregations.
The Southern Baptist investigation was carried out by Guidepost Solutions LLC.
By Tom Balmforth and Marko Djurica KYIV/POKROVSK, Ukraine (Reuters) - Russian forces were fighting to achieve one of their strategic objectives in Ukraine on Monday as...
By Matthias Williams and Thomas Escritt SCHLOSS ELMAU, Germany (Reuters) -U.S. President Joe Biden told allies "we have to stay together" against Russia on Sunday as G7 leaders...
By Robin Emmott and Humeyra Pamuk MADRID (Reuters) - NATO leaders will urge Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan to lift his veto over Finland and Sweden's bid to join the military...
Are you sure you want to block %USER_NAME%?
By doing so, you and %USER_NAME% will not be able to see any of each other's Investing.com's posts.
%USER_NAME% was successfully added to your Block List
Since you’ve just unblocked this person, you must wait 48 hours before renewing the block.
I feel that this comment is:
Thank You!
Your report has been sent to our moderators for review
Add a Comment
We encourage you to use comments to engage with other users, share your perspective and ask questions of authors and each other. However, in order to maintain the high level of discourse we’ve all come to value and expect, please keep the following criteria in mind:
Enrich the conversation, don’t trash it.
Stay focused and on track. Only post material that’s relevant to the topic being discussed.
Be respectful. Even negative opinions can be framed positively and diplomatically. Avoid profanity, slander or personal attacks directed at an author or another user. Racism, sexism and other forms of discrimination will not be tolerated.
Perpetrators of spam or abuse will be deleted from the site and prohibited from future registration at Investing.com’s discretion.