OHIO
Cincinnati.com
By Dan Horn, dhorn@enquirer.com
The letter is in a folder on the mantel, near a crucifix that once belonged to a Catholic bishop.
Michael Vanderburgh sits a few feet away, sipping coffee and reading email on his phone. The sun isn’t up yet on this early January morning, but he’s trying to get a head start on work while the kids are still sleeping.
Michael can’t remember the last time he looked at the letter. Years, probably. He found it in a cabinet in the basement over the weekend, stashed with some old bills and receipts. He isn’t sure how he feels about seeing it again.
It is not the kind of letter someone gets every day.
He reaches for the folder and opens it. “We recognize this was a difficult process for you,” the letter says. “We are certain that no amount of money can sufficiently compensate a victim of abuse.”
The letter arrived in March 2005 and is from a tribunal created by the Archdiocese of Cincinnati to resolve clergy abuse cases. Michael, who was abused by a priest as a child, was one of those cases. The tribunal sent him a check for $21,600.67.
More than 100 abuse survivors got similar letters back then, along with similar checks for oddly precise amounts. Some survivors were angry, others forgiving. Some left the church, others stayed. None responded the way Michael did.
Two years after receiving the letter, he took a job with the archdiocese. And not just any job. As director of stewardship, Michael is responsible for the largest fundraising campaign the archdiocese has ever undertaken.
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