NEW YORK — The fallout of the grand jury report on the Catholic child sex abuse continues with calls on Pope Francis to resign.
Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro appeared on the "Today" show Tuesday to talk about the report.
Each case will be investigated, and if possible anyone who abused or covered up the abuse will be prosecuted, Shapiro said.
Shapiro said that not only was there widespread abuse but there was also a coverup and the Vatican was aware.
In the two weeks since Shapiro released the bombshell report, he said the special clergy abuse hotline has received 733 phone calls.
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Shapiro said even though he couldn’t speak specifically about Pope Francis, but did say there is evidence that the Vatican had knowledge of a Catholic child sex abuse coverup.
Shapiro said church leaders would lie to parishioners and the public even though they were fully aware there was abuse going on within the church. Church leaders would shield predator priests from law enforcement, but then would document the abuse and set it aside, Shapiro said.
Shapiro added that child rape is never acceptable no matter when it happened and it’s never acceptable to cover it up.