KANSAS CITY (MO)
National Catholic Reporter
February 16, 2018
By Renee K. Gadoua
Syracuse NY – Citing the Lenten virtues of penance and reconciliation, Syracuse Bishop Robert Cunningham, announced Feb. 14, Ash Wednesday, that the diocese has established an Independent Reconciliation Compensation Program for survivors of clergy sexual abuse.
Victims have until May 16 to submit claims, which the bishop stressed would be paid for through the diocese’s general liability insurance program, not donations. Only people who submitted claims to the diocese before Feb. 14 are eligible. Participants will not sign confidentiality agreements, but they agree not to sue the diocese or diocesan staff.
About 76 victims from cases dating to 1941 are eligible for compensation for “pain and suffering” at the hands of priests, Cunningham said at a press conference. The day’s ashes “outwardly express our guilt before God and we are prompted by the hope that the Lord is kind and compassionate, patient and understanding,” he said.
The diocese previously settled 20 clergy sex abuse cases. Forty priests in the seven-county diocese have been accused since 1941. Of those, 18 are alive; they are considered credibly accused and have been removed from ministry.
Cunningham reiterated his policy of not naming accused priests who have not been identified publicly, saying he is respecting requests from some survivors not to do so.
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