NEW YORK
Christian Science Monitor
By Steven Porter, Staff OCTOBER 6, 2016
A compensation program unveiled Thursday by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York will offer money to victims of sexual abuse if they agree by Jan. 31 to forgo lawsuits and work with an independent mediator instead.
Cardinal Timothy Dolan announced the plan, calling the abuse perpetrated by priests and deacons a “nauseating” sin that has “gravely wounded the church.” But critics denounced the program as a ploy to limit the church’s liability before state legislators can vote on a proposal to make it easier for victims to sue.
“Dolan’s plan does nothing to expose those who have committed or concealed devastating crimes against kids. His goal here is to forestall real legislative reform that would enable deeply wounded victims from using courts to reveal clergy wrongdoers,” Barbara Dorris, the outreach director for the support and advocacy group Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP), said in a statement.
Over the past 15 years, the Catholic Church has been dogged by sex abuse scandals involving priests who were transferred from one community to the next, instead of being defrocked. As cases have come to light, the organization has faced heavy public criticism and paid tens of millions of dollars in settlements in the United States.
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