Pittsburgh, Other Pa. Dioceses to Establish Compensation Fund for Sex Abuse Victims

By Angela Couloumbis and Jeremy Roebuck
Philadelphia Inquirer
November 8, 2018

http://www.post-gazette.com/news/faith-religion/2018/11/08/Catholic-Archdiocese-Philadelphia-sexual-abuse-victims-compensation-fund-pittsburgh/stories/201811080122

Amid a renewed furor over the Catholic church’s handling of clergy sex abuse, several of Pennsylvania’s Catholic dioceses, including Pittsburgh, announced plans Thursday to launch programs to financially compensate victims whose claims are too old to be taken to court.

Church officials in Philadelphia, Allentown, Harrisburg, Greensburg and Scranton unveiled similar funds Thursday. A spokesperson for the Diocese of Erie said Bishop Lawrence Persico planned to open a compensation program there, too, though the details were not yet ready for public disclosure. (The Altoona-Johnstown diocese did not announce any plans for such a fund and instead issued a news release touting money they had already spent on things like therapy for sex abuse victims over the last two decades.)

Though many details on the so-called “reconciliation and reparation funds” remained hazy — including just how much money is up for grabs statewide and where it would come from — victims and their advocates warily welcomed the idea.

Some whose claims have been long been barred from courtrooms by civil statutes of limitations found hope in the prospect of finally receiving compensation for abuse they endured decades ago.