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Catholic Leaders Say They Support Priest Abuse Bill. behind Closed Doors, They Are Fighting It Fiercely, Lawmaker Says.

By Kelly Heyboer
Star Ledger
March 7, 2019

https://www.nj.com/politics/2019/03/catholic-leaders-say-they-support-priest-abuse-bill-behind-closed-doors-they-are-fighting-it-fiercely-lawmaker-says.html

The heads of New Jersey’s five Catholic dioceses released a lengthy joint statement expressing support earlier this week for a proposed law that would lift the statute of limitations on when alleged victims of sex abuse can file civil lawsuits against priests and the church.

But behind the scenes there is a fight brewing over the bill that could open New Jersey’s Catholic dioceses and Catholic schools up to a flood of civil lawsuits amid the widening priest sex abuse scandal.

Cardinal Joseph Tobin, head of the Archdiocese of Newark, and the bishops and auxiliary bishops of the state’s other dioceses released a rare joint statement Tuesday saying they want to work with lawmakers to eliminate the statute of limitations that would allow abuse victims to file lawsuits decades after they were abused.

“Now is not a time for just more analysis and study. This is a time for action to prevent any future abuse anywhere it might occur. The Catholic Bishops of New Jersey stand ready, as we have for the past two decades,” the Catholic bishops’ statement said.

Victims advocates have argued for years that New Jersey’s current law, which limits civil lawsuits to two years after the alleged sexual abuse, is too narrow and unfair.

Sen. Joseph Vitale, D-Middlesex, the bill’s lead sponsor in the state Senate, fired back at Catholic leaders, saying the church has been fighting the statute of limitations legislation, called S477, behind closed doors in Trenton.

“It is unfortunate that Catholic Church leaders continue to mislead my colleagues. In spite of their public support of my legislation, they and their high paid lobbyists continue to oppose it in private meetings and calls with legislators,” Vitale said.

He called the church’s stance on the bill bewildering given everything that has come out about decades of sexual abuse claims by priests.

“They oppose holding their institution and others accountable for the rape of children even when it may be proven that they conspired in past abuse," Vitale said. “That is inconceivable.”

Bishop David M. O’Connell, head of the Diocese of Trenton, said Vitale’s statement that Catholic Church leaders were being misleading was unfair.

“The Catholic Church is not trying to mislead anyone, including his colleagues. Church leaders have offered to work with him and his colleagues since the inception of his proposed legislation. He has refused our offers,” O’Connell said.

Last month, New Jersey’s five Catholic dioceses released the names of 188 priests and deacons “credibly accused” of abusing children over multiple decades. More than 100 were dead. Few were ever criminally prosecuted.

Around the world, Catholic dioceses have pledged to be more transparent and institute reforms to ensure children are safe within their parishes.

The pressure on the church has helped push Vitale’s previously-stalled bill to lift the statute of limitations on sexual abuse victims. Last month, New Jersey lawmakers said they had reached a deal to get the new law passed.

The new law would apply to all sexual abuse victims, not just those allegedly abused by priests.

The new rules would allow victims of childhood sexual abuse to file a civil suit up until the age of 55 or seven years after they make “the discovery" connecting their emotional and psychological injury to their abuse, Vitale said. It would allow a victim to sue an institution and a specific individual.

Victims who previously could not file lawsuits because of the statute of limitations would have a two-year window -- from Dec. 1, 2019, to Nov. 30, 2021 -- to file their cases, including if they are over the age of 55.

Patrick Brannigan, executive director of the New Jersey Catholic Conference, said he has been meeting with lawmakers about the bill and he feels the church has been unfairly maligned.

“Everyone is talking as if the abuse is still going on. We cleaned up our act 20 years ago,” said Brannigan, who represents the five Catholic dioceses in Trenton.

Catholic leaders also don’t support the section of the bill that says the institution, including the church, can be sued retroactively by victims for old cases. Though, church officials do support the section of the bill saying victims can sue over any abuse in the future.

Brannigan said he is also lobbying lawmakers to delay the date the new law would begin so it doesn’t interfere with the church’s new compensation program for victims.

The New Jersey Compensation Fund for Victims of Church Sexual Abuse of Minors, funded by the state’s Catholic dioceses, is scheduled to begin taking claims from victims of priest sex abuse starting in July. After a review by independent administrators of the fund, victims will be offered cash settlements in exchange agreeing to not sue the church.

Church officials are worried that victims will bypass the compensation fund and go to court to sue the church instead if New Jersey lifts its statute of limitations on lawsuits this year.

O’Connell, the Bishop of Trenton, said wants to see the new law delayed until at least the end of the year, when the church’s new victim’s compensation fund can finish collecting its first round of applications from priest abuse victims.

“As Bishop of Trenton, I – not a lobbyist – personally called only one legislator in my diocese, asking her to support a 30-day delay of the proposed December 1, 2019, implementation of the elimination of the statute of limitations until the Church’s Victims Compensation Program runs its course on December 31, 2019. She considered it a reasonable request but Senator Vitale refused, asking what difference a month makes,” O’Connell said.

A hearing on the legislation is scheduled in Trenton for Thursday afternoon, Vitale said.

Among those expected to testify are two Olympic gymnasts sexually abused by team doctor Larry Nassar, siblings who alleged they were abused by a priest named in Pennsylvania’s attorney general’s report on priest sex abuse in that state and other sexual abuse victims, Vitale said.

Kelly Heyboer may be reached at kheyboer@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @KellyHeyboer. Find her at KellyHeyboerReporter on Facebook. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

 

 

 

 

 




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