NEW YORK
Church Militant
by Stefan Farrar • ChurchMilitant.com • December 9, 2016
NEW YORK (ChurchMilitant.com) – Forty-six people have registered claims of sex abuse in the archdiocese of New York through a newly developed victims’ compensation program.
The compensation program was established by Cdl. Timothy Dolan in early October, who said, “I wish I would have done this quite a while ago. I just finally thought: Darn it, let’s do it. I’m tired of putting it off.”
According to the official protocol, “This Independent Reconciliation and Compensation Program (the ‘IRCP’) follows in the wake of initiatives already implemented by the Archdiocese of New York … to address the problem of sexual abuse of minors alleged against clergy of the Archdiocese.”
The program has come under fire from advocates for sex abuse victims. Anne Barrett Doyle, co-director of BishopAccountability.org, wrote, “While the fund certainly will help some victims, its biggest beneficiary will be Dolan and his management team. This is a legal strategy in pastoral garb, a tactic by the powerful archbishop to control victims and protect the church’s assets and its secrets.”
Barrett Doyle’s criticisms are based on two elements of the program: (1) claimants are required to sign a confidentiality agreement, and (2) victims aren’t given information on what happened to their abuser.
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