"For many victims of sexual abuse at the hands of Roman Catholic clergy, the Pennsylvania grand jury report shining a light on decades of abusive acts through six church dioceses Tuesday was the great equalizer.
For most of their lives, these victims said, they were left to suffer in silence or isolation; disparate voices pitted against an institution that had all the resources in place to execute the perfect cover-up.
On Tuesday, they found their voices lifted up in a different, but necessary, kind of congregational response - 887 pages of searing detail about assaults that took place in church facilities and other places over the course of two generations.
And how, in many cases, they stayed in secret church files, with no public sanctions for the abusers.
'I think it was a victory, a major victory, to get our voices out there and have our stories told,' said abuse survivor James VanSickle. 'I also believe that this is the first step in a few more steps that we have to take.'"
