Sexual abuse and Catholic Church's civil liability

Skip to hot sources
sources in your region

Background
• Business Week magazine ran an extensive package in its April 15 issue about the financial structure and operation of the Catholic Church.
• Read a New York Times article about how the lawsuits are affecting the church financially.

A review by the Associated Press recently found:
• At least 300 civil lawsuits alleging clerical sex abuse have been filed in 16 states since January.
• Almost 250 of the nation's more than 46,000 Roman Catholic priests have either been dismissed from their duties or resigned since the scandal began in January.
• Dioceses in Kentucky face the most lawsuits at 122.
• At least 73 suits have been filed in Massachusetts.
• At least 25 additional lawsuits have been filed in California.
• Another 41 claims have been made in New Hampshire.
• The Diocese of Providence, R.I. has no new cases but is a defendant in 38 old suits.
• Wisconsin has no recent claims, but a suit filed this year in California named the Milwaukee Archdiocese as a defendant.
• Estimates of what the church has paid out since the first major scandals broke in the 1980s range from about $300 million to $1 billion.

The "Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People," drafted on June 14, 2002 by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, mandates:
• That for even a single act of sexual abuse of a minor-past, present, or future-the offending priest or deacon will be permanently removed from ministry. An offending priest or deacon will be offered professional assistance for his own healing and well-being, as well as for the purpose of prevention.
• In every case, the processes provided for in canon law must be observed, and the various provisions of canon law must be considered. These provisions may include a request by the priest or deacon for dispensation from the obligation of holy orders and the loss of the clerical state, or a request by the bishop for dismissal from the clerical state even without the consent of the priest or deacon. For the sake of due process, the accused is to be encouraged to retain the assistance of civil and canonical counsel. When necessary, the diocese/eparchy will supply canonical counsel to a priest or deacon.
• If the penalty of dismissal from the clerical state has not been applied (e.g., for reasons of advanced age or infirmity), the offender is to lead a life of prayer and penance. He will not be permitted to celebrate Mass publicly, to wear clerical garb, or to present himself publicly as a priest.

The policy falls short of an original recommendation by the group's ad hoc committee to automatically defrock any priests who are proved to have committed child sexual abuse. However, it does remove the "one-strike" provision for priests who have been accused in the past. In addition, under the new policy, a lay advisory board can recommend that offending priests be defrocked. Victims groups say the new policy does not go far enough because it does not call for the automatic defrocking of priests, nor does it assign any blame or responsibility to bishops who moved abusive priests from parish to parish.

Read more
• Read the opening statement by Bishop Wilton Gregory on June 14 to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.
• Read the presidential address given on June 13 by Bishop Wilton Gregory.
• Read "Bishops Only Went Halfway," a response to the bishops' new policy from Call to Action, a grassroots Catholic reform organization with 25,000 lay, religious, priests, and bishop members.
• Read an article on child sexual abuse and Church liability drawn up by the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests.
• Read a Washington Post analysis of the new policy.
• Read a Washington Post article on the adoption of the policy and reaction.
• Read a New York Times analysis on public opinion and bishops' new policy.
• Read a Christian Science Monitor article on how victims are suing the Catholic Church at a higher level than priests.
• Read a CBSnews.com article on how more alleged sexual abuse victims are hiring lawyers.

Hot sources

• Laurence E. Hardoon is a civil attorney and former prosecutor specializing in child abuse cases in Boston. He says the new policy from the bishops will not limit the Church's liability in any past cases of abuse. The new policy will only limit the Church's exposure for any new cases of sexual abuse, but by how much remains to be seen. He says that a zero tolerance policy in which a priest is automatically defrocked would provide much more liability protection for the Church. However, the bishop's plan to remove from the active ministry any priest who molests and not automatically defrock them might actually expand the Church's exposure if the priest molests another child. Contact 617-880-7100.
• Thomas J. Reese, S.J., is editor-in-chief of "America" magazine, a national Catholic weekly. Reese says the automatic defrocking provision was dropped because the process can be too cumbersome and would slow down a diocese's ability to quickly move a priest away from the public. In addition, he says removing the automatic defrocking provision would likely increase the policy's chances of being approved by the Vatican. Contact 212-515-0105, americaeditor@americamagazine.org.
• Victor Veith, director, Allison Turkel, senior attorney, the National Center for Prosecution of Child Abuse, which is part of the American Prosecutors Research Institute in Alexandria, Va. They agree that the bishop's new policy will not limit the Church's exposure in past cases and will only have an impact on future cases. Both say that the main obstacle to the Church formulating a policy that will satisfy victims is the Church's attempt to try to combine the legal and Christian moral aspects of punishment and forgiveness. Contact 703-549-4253.
• Raymond Flynn is the chairman of the Catholic Alliance, former mayor of Boston and former U.S. ambassador to the Vatican. Contact 202-544-9600, deallaw@aol.com.
• U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

In your region

State by state
• Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests has local chapters around the country.
• Call to Action is a grassroots Catholic reform movement with chapters across the country.
• The Linkup is an advocacy group for victims of sexual abuse by priests.

In the Midwest
• Attorney Jeff Anderson of St. Paul, Minn., has filed more than 400 cases against the Catholic Church on behalf of clients who say priests have sexually abused them. Anderson is with the Reinhardt & Anderson law firm www.ralawfirm.com. Contact 651-227-9990 or info@ralawfirm.com.
• Patrick J. Schiltz of the University of St. Thomas, St. Paul, Minn., has defended dioceses against hundreds of abuse claims. Contact 651-962-4896, pjschiltz@stthomas.edu.
• Michael K. Allen is the chief prosecutor in Hamilton County, Ohio. He is prosecuting cases against priests in the Cincinnati area. Contact 513-946-3000, MikeAllen@prosecutor.hamilton-co.org.