The Republican leader of the New Hampshire House on Friday called Roman Catholic Bishop John McCormack a “pedophile pimp” who should have been led from the Statehouse in handcuffs after speaking at a rally criticizing a state budget proposal.
Bishop McCormack was among about a dozen speakers at Thursday’s rally to protest deep cuts to social services. Rep. D.J. Bettencourt of Salem wrote Friday on his Facebook page that Bishop McCormack had no business urging lawmakers to protect the vulnerable, given his role in the clergy sex- abuse scandal in the last decade.
Before being named bishop of Manchester in 1998, Bishop McCormack was a top aide to Cardinal Bernard Law in Boston, where the Catholic sex-abuse scandal began and where he was in charge of investigating sexual-misconduct allegations.
In 2002, McCormack averted criminal charges against the New Hampshire diocese by agreeing that it had harmed children by moving abusive priests from parish to parish.