"It's not about the money," he said. "It's the only way societywill have an opportunity to find out who these men are and where theyare. It's ultimately going to make one of the largest entities in theworld stop this vicious cycle."

 

The two other plaintiffs who opted out of the settlement were notidentified in court documents. Attorneys for the group of plaintiffssaid their clients would not comment about the settlement.

The current statute of limitations gives alleged victims two yearsafter their 18th birthdays to file a lawsuit. But judges are dismissingmany cases because the plaintiffs filed their lawsuits as middle-agedadults, claiming abuse occurred when they were children.

McKeown, of Beaver Falls, is not alone in pushing for changes.A coalition of organizations wants the state Legislature to abolish thedeadline for filing future civil lawsuits and suspend for two years thestatute of limitations on cases already filed.

"If you can't bring suit, the people who did the abuse are out there,working in rec centers, schools ... because they know the statute hastolled," said John Salveson, founder and president of the Foundation toAbolish Child Sex Abuse Inc., one of the groups in the coalition,dubbed PA Cares.

An organization of Catholic bishops and their dioceses opposes theeffort to extend the statute of limitations. In California, thecreation of a similar window resulted in the filing of 800 lawsuits,the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests said.

"The Pennsylvania Catholic Conference opposes legislation similar toCalifornia's because it is unworkable and unfair," said Amy Beisel,spokeswoman for the group. Beisel said the older a case is, the harderit becomes to obtain evidence and witnesses.

But Gov. Ed Rendell supports an extension of the statute of two years or longer, said his spokesman, Chuck Ardo.

"He believes many victims don't gain memories of the incident untilthey are older, and it takes longer to process the trauma," said Ardo,who sees the potential for action on the measures this year.

Pennsylvania lawmakers have discussed a number of measures, includingwhether to create a one-year window during which people could filecivil lawsuits against clergy for sexual abuse no matter when ithappened, said John Ryan, executive director of the House judiciarycommittee.

A bill introduced earlier this year by state Rep. Lisa Bennington,D-Allegheny, would extend the statute of limitations by 32 years,allowing people to file civil lawsuits until they reach the age of 50.The bill remains in committee, and Bennington said she is hopeful themeasure will be voted on this year.

McKeown was a student at Quigley Catholic High School, where Hoehlserved as headmaster from 1971 to 1985. McKeown said the alleged abuseoccurred between 1973 and 1983 at the priest's home and a cabin on theYoughiogheny River.

David Zubik, who will be installed Friday as Pittsburgh's new bishop, could not be reached for comment for this story.

However, when the Diocese of Pittsburgh announced the settlement lastMonday, he said: "I think it is paramount that, as Church, we do whatwe can to bring healing to people who have been harmed. It is my hopethat the proactive stance that the Diocese of Pittsburgh hasconsistently taken will also help to rebuild trust in the Church withthis resolution."

Hoehl withdrew from priestly service in 1988 and was dismissedfrom all priestly obligations in 2004. In his lawsuit, McKeown, whosaid he is no longer Catholic, sought unspecified damages.

Under the settlement announced last week, the diocese willestablish a $1.25 million "Outreach Fund" to be divided by retiredAllegheny County Judge Alan Penkower. The diocese also will pay forcounseling.

McKeown, a businessman in Beaver County, also would like thePittsburgh diocese to build a home for troubled youth. Diocesanspokesman the Rev. Ron Lengwin said he had not heard about the call fora youth home.

McKeown said, "I want to see something positive come out of this. My intent was never to drag the church through the mud."

Craig Smith can be reached at csmith@tribweb.com or 412-380-5646.