"By 2002, the Vatican was finally forced to acknowledge and confront the fact that the Roman Catholic Church had for decades covered up abuse by its clergy of thousands of children. Church hierarchy around the world promised to make serious reforms to protect children. But 'All is Not Forgiven,' showed that some of these promises were never kept.
"Our report found that while the largest Roman Catholic diocese in the U.S. was pledging to carefully vet priests before placing them with children, it was simultaneously welcoming a proven predator into a youth mission. The Rev. Fernando Lopez-Lopez transferred to Los Angeles from a parish outside Rome and was convicted, shortly after, of molesting at least three boys. Until our report aired, archdiocese leadership had claimed it couldn't have prevented the abuse; that it had thoroughly checked Lopez-Lopez's background -- and that the priest had a clean record.
"But our report found that this background check was cursory at best. Had the Archdiocese of LA followed its own protocols, it would have learned, as we did, that Lopez-Lopez had a history of preying on children in Italy.
"Our findings were reported by the Associated Press, the prominent Los Angeles Times columnist Steve Lopez and National Public Radio. Confronted with the information in our report, the archdiocese paid a $1.5 million settlement to one of Lopez-Lopez's victims. The victim thanked us, in a letter that we have attached, for helping him find some degree of justice.
Thank you in advance for your consideration."--2011 Peabody Awards entry form.
Corporate Producers: HDNet (Firm)
Persons Appearing: Dan Rather (Reporter)
Broadcast Date: 2011-06-28
