Cardinal Dolan’s Actions Show a Surprising and Welcomed Reversal of Position

Catholic Whistleblowers
May 11, 2017

http://www.catholicwhistleblowers.com/

The actions of Cardinal Timothy Dolan endorse the value of a ‘lookback window’ in providing some justice to victims / survivors of Catholic clergy sexual abuse of minors.

Indeed, the Archdiocese of New York’s Independent Reconciliation and Compensation Program, imperfect as the program is, appropriately pays out millions of dollars to clergy sexual abuse victims whose claim exceeds the New York State statute of limitations. In short, no matter when the sexual abuse occurred, Cardinal Dolan is willing to financially compensate the victim, and we welcome this reversal of position.

A New York State statutory ‘lookback window’ would serve the same meaningful role in society by allowing the victims / survivors of child sexual abuse to pursue legal recourse against public and private institutions of all sorts regardless when the abuse took place.

Additionally, a ‘lookback window’ enhances the protection of children and young people by identifying perpetrators and warning the public. However, Cardinal Dolan’s program does not identify the perpetrators and, thus, does not warn people about predators in their midst. Of course, he could change the program to make it better by publicizing the names of the abusers, just as he did in 2004 when he was the Archbishop of Milwaukee.

Consequently, Catholic Whistleblowers, a national network of current and former priests, women religious, brothers, deacons, and laypersons who actively support survivors of sexual abuse, strongly encourages New York State Senators and Assemblypersons to enact legislation that reforms the State’s statutes of limitations in both criminal and civil cases of child sexual abuse, a reform that would include a ‘lookback window’ of two years for civil cases.

Members of the Catholic Whistleblowers Steering Committee who submit this message are:

Sr. Sally Butler, OP (Brooklyn, NY); Sr. Claire Smith, OSU (Bronx, NY); Rev. Ronald D. Lemmert (Peekskill, NY); Robert M. Hoatson, Ph.D., (West Orange, NJ); Sr. Maureen Paul Turlish, SNDdeN (New Castle, DE); Rev. Bruce Teague (Sheffield, MA); Rev. Thomas P. Doyle, OP, J.C.D. (Vienna, VA); Rev. James E. Connell, J.C.D. (Milwaukee, WI);

Contact Persons: Sr. Sally Butler, OP (Brooklyn, NY) 718-237-0905 sbuttlerop@yahoo.com

Sr. Claire Smith, OSU (Bronx, NY) 718-885-0893 newskete@gmail.com

Robert M. Hoatson, Ph.D., (West Orange, NJ) 862-368-2800 roberthoatson@gmail.com

Sr. Maureen Paul Turlish, SNDdeN (New Castle, DE) 610-212-2770 maturlishmdsnd@yahoo.com

Rev. James E. Connell, J.C.D. (Milwaukee, WI) 414-940-8054 connell.james951@gmail.com