BishopAccountability.org
 
  The Unjust Result of Sex Abuse Suits

The News Journal
June 22, 2009

http://www.delawareonline.com/article/20090622/OPINION07/906220315/1004/OPINION/The-unjust-result-of-sex-abuse-suits

The two women looked at me expectantly. Their brother in Mexico needed an operation. Could the church help? I tried to explain ...we have limited resources. I was thinking of the couple in the corridor who said they couldn't afford medicine. I was also thinking of the number of parents who were having difficulty paying tuition in our parochial school.

Thank God the diocese has a fund to help some of them ... so far.

A medium-size Catholic parish like ours has to be self- sufficient. So we have clothing re-sales, carnivals and walkathons. Our budget will come close to $1.9 million, over 60 percent for the school. About $100,000 goes to the diocese to support the larger church's expenses.

Meanwhile, we read of sexual abuse lawsuits against the Catholic Diocese. One was recently settled for $1.5 million. Thirty or 40 more are pending. Already $8 million has been spent on settlements and legal fees. These suits came into being as a result of a new law passed by the state Legislature, setting aside for two years the statute of limitations for civil suits. As I do the math, it looks like between $45 million and $60 million in potential claims.

What is wrong with this approach to justice? The perpetrators of crimes -- the abusers and their abettors -- are not affected. They are dead or bereft of funds, and beyond criminal prosecution. The persons actually punished by these punitive suits are the ordinary people and clergy who make up the parishes of the Catholic Diocese of Wilmington.

Does the payment of huge amounts of money undo the effects of sexual abuse? One victim said to me: "$100 million wouldn't be enough!" Healing is a lifelong journey, and it involves therapy and in the best-case scenario a chance to confront the victimizers and receive heartfelt apologies and assurance of change. It requires restitution for lost careers as well as for therapy. No informed person can disagree with this. It's a form of restorative justice. Another purpose of justice is corrective. The diocese, for instance, has mandated sweeping policies to safeguard children in every possible setting.

But the legislature did not consider these processes of corrective or restorative justice. It did a drastic thing, based on the assumption, as one proponent put it, that "the Catholic Church has lots of money." They went for punitive damages. Will this heal the victims? If it did, it would be worth it. But no one has any guarantee it will.

Meanwhile, in The News Journal we read of cases of sexual abuse, some of which have taken place in public schools. Other articles note statistics that far too many girls will face some kind of sexual abuse before adulthood, mostly within their families. Whatever the truth is, there is all too much of it around.

Why do lawyers not bring suits by the thousands? Well, it seems the state cannot be sued for the misdeeds of its employees. Nor is there money in ordinary childhood sex abuse cases.

The illusion seems to exist that it will do no harm to confiscate the money and resources of the church. But I would say that when you ignore a thousand cases to prosecute ten for draconian damages, and confiscate the free-will offerings of religious believers that were given to provide for worship of God, pastoral care, moral guidance, education and help to society's least, you have made a great miscalculation. You have fixed a price tag on a problem that is not subject to price tags. And you have crippled the function of one of the primary moral foundations of our society.

I have been a priest of the Diocese of Wilmington for 44 years. I feel very good about the people I serve and shepherd. Being with children, teens, families, elders, the immigrant, the stranger, the sick, the dying is exactly where I want to be, and I thank God for putting me here.

Whatever happens, I will not change. Nor will the Catholic people. Our purpose transcends success and failure.

But, I offer this warning, especially to the Legislature, the legal profession, and to the judiciary: Is this what you want to do? There is a better way. Your way does not, to me, have the appearance of justice.

 
 

Any original material on these pages is copyright © BishopAccountability.org 2004. Reproduce freely with attribution.