“Catholics have a right to know what’s going on in a church that they’ve pledged money to and support,” Dispenza said. “There are people who are buried in Catholic cemeteries who would be turning over in their graves if they knew that there is money being used to protect the ‘sins of our fathers,’ so to speak.” 

In a statement, Washington-based nonprofit Catholic Accountability Project called for…Ferguson’s office to work with the Vatican to obtain documents in its archive as well.

Tim Law, a co-founder of the Washington-based Catholic Accountability Project, told KUOW it's been an uphill battle to get the details of these sexual abuse investigations from both the Seattle Archdiocese and the Attorney General's Office.

CAP "welcomes the Attorney General’s announcement of the commencement of a civil investigation into clergy sexual abuse and cover-up within the three dioceses of Washington state…The group expects that Ferguson’s investigation will extend to Catholic religious orders.”

“It saddens me that the archdiocese isn't being a leader in child protection. They should be in the forefront of this issue, not backpedaling all the time,” Law said.

Mary Dispenza spent years as a nun and working in the church before her buried memories rose to the surface. It was the start of her long journey towards justice and peace.

One woman said she was raped by a priest who went on to sexually assault dozens of other girls, calling the compromise a “loophole that protects abusers, not children.”

“People are really concerned about kids and don’t want to give anyone a pass,” said Rep. Tana Senn, D-Mercer Island, the committee’s chair. “We had an honest discussion of issues in our caucus and with the other side and we didn’t have the votes to get it out of the committee.”

The state Attorney General’s Office may have subpoenaed three Catholic bishops in Washington state seeking “abuse-related documents and evidence,” the Catholic Accountability Project said at a news conference Tuesday, Feb. 13.

New information shared with KOMO News indicates that leaders of Washington’s Catholic dioceses were subpoenaed, but KOMO directly asked the Attorney General's office, which declined to comment.

Tim Law, co-founder of a nonprofit called Ending Clergy Abuse that aims to protect children from sexual abuse by the Roman Catholic Church, spoke out against the bill, arguing the compromise is a “capitulation to the churches.”

“Clergy need to be mandatory reporters, without exception,” Law said.