NEW YORK
WNYC
Sunday, June 03, 2012
By Brigid Bergin : WNYC Producer
Cardinal Timothy Dolan, the archbishop of the Catholic Diocese of New York, said on Sunday that reports he approved payments to priests facing sex abuse charges while he was archbishop of Milwaukee were “groundless and scurrilous.”
Speaking to reporters after mass at St. Patrick’s on Sunday, Dolan blasted the New York Times’ coverage of “this issue” saying it was not fair or accurate. He also took aim at the organization behind the charges – specifically the abuse victims’ advocate group Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests, which recently made public a document from the archdiocese’s bankruptcy proceedings that references a proposal to pay up to $20,000 to priests accused of abuse who return to the laity.
“SNAP has no credibility whatsoever,” Dolan said. “To respond to charges like that that are groundless and scurrilous in my book is useless and counterproductive.”
The Times was among numerous media organizations that reported about the document made public by SNAP.
Dolan’s comments Sunday seemed to contradict a statement made to WNYC by a spokesman for the Archdiocese of New York last week, which said that the cardinal “has read and supports the statement from the Archdiocese of Milwaukee.”
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.