IRELAND
Irish Examiner

Friday, July 19, 2013

The Catholic Church is as imaginative and determined as any fallen Celtic Tiger high roller when it comes to trying to protect assets.

It has shown it is prepared to put resources beyond the reach of those entitled, morally and legally, to compensation from the Church.

Earlier this month the New York Times reported how Cardinal Timothy F Dolan, then based in Milwaukee, requested and got Vatican permission in 2007 to move nearly $57m (€43.5m) into a cemetery trust fund to protect the cash from victims of clerical sexual abuse.

Cardinal Dolan, now archbishop of New York, denies trying to ring-fence funds. However, in a 2007 letter to the Vatican he argued that by transferring the assets, “I foresee an improved protection of these funds from any legal claim and liability”.

Irish orders, particularly the Christian Brothers and the Sisters of Charity,…