In a response provided to The Associated Press, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops defended its anti-abuse efforts, which church officials say have helped reduce abuse allegations since 2002 to numbers far lower than several decades ago.

Jeff Anderson, a lawyer representing people who say they were abused by clergy in the Rockville Centre Diocese, slammed the bankruptcy filing as “strategic, cowardly and wholly self-serving."

"Our community cannot be indifferent to modern slavery and human trafficking or our responsibility to eradicate it," Archbishop Fisher said.

"There is no question that our nation's original sin of racism continues to destroy and harm the lives of persons of color and that racism extends through so many systems of our society ... educational, economic, religious, housing, criminal justice, voting and employment," Archbishop Kurtz said.

Krisanne Vaillancourt Murphy: “The death penalty serves as a sort of litmus test for how our nation is making progress to either dismantle or uphold racism.”

Trump calls himself the “law and order” president. But his “law and order” is a promise for some at the expense of others.