The Department of Justice is investigating the Southern Baptist Church, the largest Protestant creed in the country, for sexual abuse, the congregation itself said in a statement on Friday.
Those responsible for the Church claimed to be cooperating "completely" with the investigations and reiterated that they regret the "mistakes" of the past.
In mid-June, members of the Southern Baptist Convention approved the creation and disclosure of a registry of pastors who have committed sexual abuse.
This occurred after a report by an external consultant, Guidepost Solutions, was released in May revealing that previous attempts had been made to hide these cases.
The firm's independent investigation, which was commissioned by the church, found disturbing details about how leaders mishandled allegations of sexual abuse.
In his 288 - page report , he found that
Church leaders ignored and even intimidated victims of abuse
and covered up their claims for
at least two decades
.
The investigation covered
complaints by children and women
against pastors and employees of the
group's churches since the year
2000
.
As detailed in the report, the leadership of the Church already had in its hands a detailed list of religious accused of abuse, but kept it secret while many of those who appeared on that registry
continued to work in temples throughout the country
.
[“I felt disgust and anger”: he was kidnapped and stabbed 68 times for denouncing that he was abused in La Luz del Mundo]
Sexual abuse survivor Christa Brown, who has long called for the church to take stronger action, welcomed the news of the Justice Department investigation.
Hallelujah
.
About time
,” Brown said in a Friday post on Twitter, “this is what it takes.”
Jules Woodson, center, is comforted by her boyfriend Ben Smith, left, and Christa Brown during a protest outside the annual meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention in Birmingham in June 2019, in which she shared that she was sexually abused by a Southern Baptist minister. Julie Bennett / AP
Another survivor, Jules Woodson, went public with her story of abuse in 2018 and has been pushing for reform ever since.
“Let justice be done!!!” she said on Friday.
The decision to make the list public
The decision to make the list public was made at the Church's annual meeting, which was held south of Los Angeles and was attended by about 8,000 people.
The Southern Baptist Church is the largest Protestant creed in the US, with nearly 15 million members and more than 47,000 churches nationwide.
Most of the attendees gave the go-ahead both to publish the names associated with abuse complaints and to keep this list updated with the cases that are discovered in the future.
Sarah Barber shows a tape given to her by survivors of sexual abuse at the annual meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention in Anaheim, Calif., Tuesday, June 14, 2022. Jae C. Hong / AP
Before, the entity had argued that it could not collect information on the alleged abuses for interfering with the autonomy of the different churches.
[Pope Francis apologizes to the indigenous people of Canada for the abuses committed by missionaries in boarding schools]
Church leaders have given few details about the investigation, but indicated it involved widespread sexual abuse issues.
The church's Executive Committee has been summoned to testify.
"This is an ongoing investigation and we will not be commenting on our discussions with the Justice Department," attorneys for the committee told The Associated Press.
Oklahoma Pastor Mike Keahbone, who sits on the Executive Committee and is vice chair of the new abuse task force, said on Twitter that the investigation
is "not something to fear... If there is more work to be done, we will do it
."
With information from
The Associated Press
and
Agencia EFE
.
