PENNSYLVANIA'S BEASTLY PRIESTS

Former priest James Faluszczak, who says he was molested as a teenager by
 a priest, reacts as Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro speaks during
a news conference at the Pennsylvania Capitol in Harrisburg on Tuesday.

HUNDREDS of Roman Catholic priests molested more than 1,000 children and possibly many, many more since the 1940s-

And senior church officials, including a man who is now archbishop of Washington, D.C.. systematically covered up the abuse, according to a grand jury report released Tuesday.

The   ''real number''  of abused children might be in thousands since some secret church records were lost, and victims were afraid to come forward, the grans jury said.

''Priests were raping little boys and girls,  and the men of God who were responsible for them not only did nothing. ''They had it all.'' Attorney General Josh Shapiro said at a news conference in Harrisburg.

The report put the number of abusive clergy at more than 300. In nearly all the cases, the statue of limitations has run out, meaning that criminal charges cannot be filed.

More than 100 of the priests are dead, and many others are retired or have been dismissed from the priesthood or put on leave.

''We are sick over all the crimes that will go unpunished and uncompensated ,'' the grand jury said.

Authorities evaluated each suspect and we're able to charge just two, including a priest who has since pleaded guilty.

Shapiro said the investigation is ongoing.

Church officials  ''routinely and purposefully described the abuse as horseplay and wrestling.'' and simply  ''inappropriate conduct,'' Shapiro said.

''It was none of those things. It was child  sexual-abuse , including rape,'' he said. [Agencies]