May 04, 2002
Compensation setback for church abuse victims
From James Doran in Washington and Nicholas Wapshott in New York
The Times
MORE than 80 American Roman Catholics who allege that they were sexually abused by a single priest were left with little hope of compensation yesterday after the Church said that it could not pay a settlement of up to $40 million (£27 million).
The Archdiocese of Boston, Massachusetts, where 86 people were allegedly sexually abused by Father John Geoghan, reneged on the deal after a meeting of its finance council.
The settlement, which was provisionally agreed last month after almost a year of negotiations, was cancelled amid growing fears that the abuse scandal has plunged the Catholic Church in America into financial meltdown. Parishes are worried that settlements will outstrip their finances, and parishioners are reluctant to donate more cash while the allegations of abuse, and legal threats, persist.
The move is also a stinging blow to Cardinal Bernard Law, the leader of the Catholic Church in Boston and figurehead of the campaign to placate a growing number of alleged victims of sexual abuse in the region, as he personally recommended the settlement to the Church.
Father Geoghan was defrocked in January and jailed for up to ten years for molesting a ten-year-old boy. He faced accusations from the families of scores of other children. Church records show that bishops and priests knew that Father Geoghan had been accused of abuse, but kept moving him from parish to parish to avoid a scandal. The settlement was estimated to be worth between $15 million and $40 million, an amount that would have left the Archdiocese virtually bankrupt.
The finance council said that it rejected the deal because of fears that a growing number of alleged victims of sexual abuse in the Archdiocese would have been left without financial recourse if all the cash had been paid to Father Geoghan's former parishioners.
David Smith, the Archdiocesan chancellor, said that the Catholic Church in Boston should instead "develop a mechanism which will provide all necessary counselling for the victims and their families".
The Archdiocese of Boston has paid about $15 million to 40 alleged victims of Father Geoghan since the mid-1990s. Ralph DelVecchio, one of the plaintiffs, said that he was stunned by the decision of the finance council. "I don't understand why everyone keeps talking about money," he said. "If the Church did what they were supposed to do years ago, they wouldn't be in this position."
American Catholics have begun to trust their clergy less since the scandal came to light, and the popularity of the Pope has also fallen, according to a New York Times-CBS poll yesterday.
Support for the Pope has slumped from 69 per cent to 53 per cent in the past two weeks, despite the emergency summit of American cardinals in Rome last week which was intended to draw a line under the affair. Nearly half of Catholics think that the Pope has handled the scandal badly and 58 per cent think that he should have done more to tackle the problem.
Compensation setback for church abuse victims
From James Doran in Washington and Nicholas Wapshott in New York
The Times
MORE than 80 American Roman Catholics who allege that they were sexually abused by a single priest were left with little hope of compensation yesterday after the Church said that it could not pay a settlement of up to $40 million (£27 million).
The Archdiocese of Boston, Massachusetts, where 86 people were allegedly sexually abused by Father John Geoghan, reneged on the deal after a meeting of its finance council.
The settlement, which was provisionally agreed last month after almost a year of negotiations, was cancelled amid growing fears that the abuse scandal has plunged the Catholic Church in America into financial meltdown. Parishes are worried that settlements will outstrip their finances, and parishioners are reluctant to donate more cash while the allegations of abuse, and legal threats, persist.
The move is also a stinging blow to Cardinal Bernard Law, the leader of the Catholic Church in Boston and figurehead of the campaign to placate a growing number of alleged victims of sexual abuse in the region, as he personally recommended the settlement to the Church.
Father Geoghan was defrocked in January and jailed for up to ten years for molesting a ten-year-old boy. He faced accusations from the families of scores of other children. Church records show that bishops and priests knew that Father Geoghan had been accused of abuse, but kept moving him from parish to parish to avoid a scandal. The settlement was estimated to be worth between $15 million and $40 million, an amount that would have left the Archdiocese virtually bankrupt.
The finance council said that it rejected the deal because of fears that a growing number of alleged victims of sexual abuse in the Archdiocese would have been left without financial recourse if all the cash had been paid to Father Geoghan's former parishioners.
David Smith, the Archdiocesan chancellor, said that the Catholic Church in Boston should instead "develop a mechanism which will provide all necessary counselling for the victims and their families".
The Archdiocese of Boston has paid about $15 million to 40 alleged victims of Father Geoghan since the mid-1990s. Ralph DelVecchio, one of the plaintiffs, said that he was stunned by the decision of the finance council. "I don't understand why everyone keeps talking about money," he said. "If the Church did what they were supposed to do years ago, they wouldn't be in this position."
American Catholics have begun to trust their clergy less since the scandal came to light, and the popularity of the Pope has also fallen, according to a New York Times-CBS poll yesterday.
Support for the Pope has slumped from 69 per cent to 53 per cent in the past two weeks, despite the emergency summit of American cardinals in Rome last week which was intended to draw a line under the affair. Nearly half of Catholics think that the Pope has handled the scandal badly and 58 per cent think that he should have done more to tackle the problem.