Attorney in MN Catholic Priest Abuse Case Calls for Grand Jury [VIDEO]

ST. PAUL -- The attorney who represented hundreds of survivors of abuse by priests in Catholic Churches across Minnesota is calling for a grand jury investigation into all Minnesota dioceses.

Jeff Anderson, who represented victims in cases against the church is urging the state to launch a grand jury investigation. The grand jury would be similar to the one in Pennsylvania which uncovered decades of organized cover-ups and abuse by priests and bishops.

Anderson says since they've brought cases to light, they've been able to recover files which he says should lead to a full grand jury investigation.

"We have been able to excavate and uncover tens of thousands of files of offenders. They reflect that every Catholic Bishop present and past have been complicit in the cover-up of clerical crime."

He says the victims he represents, and his office is calling for a grand jury to investigate what he calls an organized crime syndicate.

"We're calling upon a grand jury to investigate what I believe to be an organized crime syndicate called the Catholic Bishops of Minnesota. I'm calling on each bishop to come cleaner than they have."

Anderson says the governor has the authority under Minnesota law to convene a state grand jury to investigate suspected crimes committed by priests and alleged cover-ups.

In a news release, Anderson specifically mentioned the Dioceses of St. Cloud among those who've covered up priest sexual abuse.

In response to Anderson's call for a statewide grand jury, the Diocese of St. Cloud released a statement that says the decision on whether to convene a grand jury is for others to make. They say if one is convened, they will "fully cooperate".

The diocese says they provided all files Anderson and Associates requested as part of a case before the court in 2016. This amounted to over 13,500 pages of documents.