Cardinal defends move to protect US diocese from litigation from abuse victims

RTE News
August 16, 2015

http://www.rte.ie/news/2015/0816/721588-timothy-dolan-catholic-church/

Timothy Dolan addresses pilgrims at their final Mass in Ballintubber Abbey, Co Mayo

A US cardinal archbishop has accused opponents of quoting out of context his 2007 statement to the Vatican that he was strengthening a diocese's protection against litigation by child sexual abuse victims by putting most of its assets into a cemetery trust fund.

Cardinal Archbishop of New York Timothy Dolan told RTÉ's This Week opponents are ignoring that state law required him to move the money beyond diocesan control. 

The cardinal also praised this month's offer of €21m by his former archdiocese of Milwaukee to over 300 clerical abuse victims, which has been dismissed by their lawyer as "harsh and hurtful".

The offer ended four years of bankruptcy proceedings in the courts in the United States.

The former archbishop of the archdiocese of Milwaukee was leading a pilgrimage to Knock and other parts of the west of Ireland last week.

He is now the cardinal archbishop of New York.

Five years ago the then-pope, Benedict, despatched him to inspect Irish seminaries as part of the Vatican's investigation of the clerical child sexual abuse scandals here.