FILE – In this May 15, 2018, file photo, acting New York state Attorney General Barbara D. Underwood speaks in Albany, N.Y. Underwood has subpoenaed all eight Roman Catholic dioceses in the state as part... (Associated Press) 
 
 FILE – In this May 15, 2018, file photo, acting New York state Attorney General Barbara D. Underwood speaks in Albany, N.Y. Underwood has subpoenaed all eight Roman Catholic dioceses in the state as part... (Associated Press) 
 
 ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — New York Attorney General Barbara Underwood has subpoenaed all eight Roman Catholic dioceses in the state as part of an investigation into the handling of sex abuse allegations. 
 
 A law enforcement source familiar with the investigation but not authorized to speak publicly told The Associated Press the subpoenas went out Thursday. 
 
 The subpoenas seek documents relating to abuse allegations, payments to victims or findings from internal church investigations. 
 
 Underwood's office is pursuing a civil investigation into the church's response to abuse reports and has also reached out to local prosecutors authorized to convene grand juries or pursue criminal investigations. 
 
 Church officials say they will cooperate. 
 
 The announcement comes three weeks after a grand jury investigation found rampant sexual abuse of more than 1,000 children by about 300 priests in Pennsylvania. 

 Attorney General Underwood has launched a clergy abuse hotline and online complaint form through which victims and others can provide information as part of the Attorney General’s ongoing investigation into sexual abuse of children within the New York dioceses of the Catholic Church. 
 
 The Attorney General’s Charities Bureau has launched a civil investigation into how the dioceses and other church entities – which are non-profit institutions – reviewed and potentially covered up allegations of extensive sexual abuse of minors. 
 
 The Attorney General’s Criminal Division is also seeking to partner with District Attorneys—who have the power to convene grand juries—to investigate and, if warranted, prosecute any individuals who have committed criminal offenses that fall within the applicable statutes of limitations. 
 
 Click here to read the full announcement. 
 
 1-800-771-7755 

 A bill that would amend the statute of limitations to allow more victims to seek justice has for years failed to pass the state Legislature. On Thursday, Ms. Underwood urged the Legislature to pass the bill, known as the Child Victims Act, which would allow all victims to file civil suits until age 50 and seek criminal charges until age 28. 
 
 But she also urged any victim of sexual abuse by Catholic clergy, or anyone who knows about abuse, to participate in her investigation, even if they believe that their information may be outside the statute of limitations for a court case. 
 
 “All victim information will be helpful to understanding and reforming the institutional approach of the church,” she said. 
 
 The potential scope of the investigations is huge. In the Archdiocese of New York alone, 315 victims of sex abuse by clergy have recently received compensation through an independent program sponsored by the church. In the Diocese of Brooklyn, some 250 victims have filed claims through a similar program. These programs did not offer compensation to victims abused by priests working for religious orders, so many more victims may reach out to report abuse through the hotline. 
 
 The Diocese of Buffalo has been swamped with abuse revelations in recent months. In February, a retired priest admitted to The Buffalo News that he had molested probably dozens of boys at multiple parishes from the late 1960s until the 1980s. Since then, abuse by other priests has also come to light, raising questions of why it was kept secret for so long. 
 
 There have been calls for the bishop of Buffalo, Richard J. Malone, to resign, but he has said he will not. In contrast, the bishop of Albany, Edward Scharfenberger, has taken a more proactive approach to the crisis, recently sending a letter to parishioners telling them that he had asked the Albany district attorney to review the diocese’s records on sex abuse allegations. 
 
 “In the spirit of transparency and in an effort to restore a sacred trust that has been broken again and again, I believe a fully independent investigation, one coordinated by the district attorney, is the only way forward,” he wrote in the letter.
– Could the bombshell report about sexual abuse among Catholic priests in Pennsylvania lead to similar allegations in New York state? We'll know soon enough. State Attorney General Barbara Underwood has issued subpoenas to all eight dioceses in the state for information on how they handled reports of sexual abuse over the years, reports the AP. Underwood's office will team with district attorneys throughout the state to look into whether the church covered up for abusive priests, as was the case in Pennsylvania. Underwood also encouraged victims or witnesses to come forward to file complaints at ag.ny.gov/ClergyAbuse or to call a hotline at (800) 771-7755. “The Pennsylvania grand jury report shined a light on incredibly disturbing and depraved acts by Catholic clergy, assisted by a culture of secrecy and cover ups in the dioceses," said Underwood, per the New York Times. "Victims in New York deserve to be heard as well." The Washington Post, however, points out one big caveat: In Pennsylvania, most of the cases were well beyond the statute of limitations for criminal prosecution, and the same could be true of cases in New York.