Massachusetts report finds more than 270 clergy abused about 1,000 children

The office of Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell released a report on September 30, 2026, documenting that more than 270 Catholic clergy abused about 1,000 children over the course of a century in the dioceses of Fall River, Springfield and Worcester. The report also says the leaders of those dioceses failed to respond adequately to the many complaints they received.

The investigation began in 2019 and reviewed more than 300,000 pages of documents. Investigators also interviewed more than 100 people, among them survivors of child sexual abuse. Campbell, who disclosed that she was abused as a child herself, said the dioceses urgently need more transparent accountability measures.

Worcester Diocese

The highest figures in the report are for the Diocese of Worcester, where 90 of the accused clergy served and an estimated 216 children were abused. The figures for Fall River and Springfield are also substantial, though lower than Worcester's. The cases span roughly a century.

Transfers without reports to authorities

One of the report's central findings is that most abuse complaints led to the accused priest being moved to another parish, with no notice to civil authorities. Many of those priests continued in ministry in their new parishes.

Dispute over publishing lists of accused priests

Campbell called on the Diocese of Worcester to publish a list of accused priests, which the diocese has not done. The diocese argues that the practice has no precedent in other fields and cites a 2019 statement by Pope Leo XIV suggesting that lists should not be published in cases that have not resulted in a conviction.

Campbell argues that institutional transparency is required when abuse is documented, even without a criminal conviction.

Most abuse occurred before 2002

The report says most of the abuse took place before 2002, the year the Boston scandal became public. It warns that even after 2002 written policies were not followed consistently, and that exceptions to those policies frequently undermined child protection measures.

The report also identifies shortcomings in training and in the investigation of complaints. It found that the post-2002 reforms were applied unevenly: some dioceses moved toward a culture of protection, while others were slow or inconsistent.

Legislative requests

Campbell asked state lawmakers to eliminate the $20,000 charitable immunity cap on civil claims involving child sexual abuse and to abolish the statute of limitations for such claims.

The $20,000 cap has kept many victims from recovering substantial damages. Removing the statute of limitations would allow adult victims to sue decades after childhood abuse.

State Senator Joan Lovely said she hoped lawmakers would pass a bill that has been pending for 14 years and that seeks to address these questions. The measure has been stalled in the legislature for years, with resistance from lobbying by religious institutions.

Diocesan responses

The dioceses of Worcester and Fall River apologized to victims after the report was published. Bishop Edgar M. da Cunha of Fall River said he was saddened by the details it revealed and said his diocese has worked to build a "culture of protection" to ensure that children are not abused, including reporting allegations to the authorities and improving safety protocols.

The Diocese of Worcester said it would study the report to identify improvements to its child safety policies.

Other states

The report follows similar documents released in other states, including Michigan, where investigators have published findings on abuse in several dioceses. The Massachusetts investigation is the first to examine in detail what happened in the state's dioceses outside the Archdiocese of Boston, which has been under scrutiny since 2002.

Campbell said the aim of the investigation was not to demonize the Catholic faith but to "seek justice and improve the protection of minors in the future."