Prosecutors Pressure Cincinnati Archdiocese

Prosecutors in Cincinnati are complaining that Catholic officials have not cooperated with a court mandate to release internal documents related to alleged sexual abuse by priests.

Prosecutor Mike Allen, in briefs submitted to the Ohio 1st District Court of Appeals, said the Archdiocese of Cincinnati has made “misleading and inaccurate” statements about records that were ordered released last year.

“Representations made by the archdiocese with respect to this matter are at best seriously misleading and in fact appear to be outright false,” Allen said in a brief filed before a hearing Tuesday.

Archbishop Daniel Pilarczyk is among several bishops nationwide who has been wrestling with prosecutors over the release of church files, which he says are private. Last year he said he would not release documents until he saw a subpoena. He was one of the first to be called in front of a criminal grand jury investigating the scandal.