PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Catholic News Service
November 2018
By Matthew Gambino
Acting on his promise to find new ways to support survivors of clerical sexual abuse, Archbishop Charles J. Chaput announced Nov. 8 that the Archdiocese of Philadelphia is creating a new reparations program open to anyone abused by clergy in the archdiocese.
Philadelphia’s archbishop made the announcement in his column on CatholicPhilly.com, explaining the archdiocese will fund the program and “pay the amounts that independent claims administrators deem appropriate.”
The Independent Reconciliation and Reparations Program seeks to compensate all victims but especially those whose claims are currently barred from civil lawsuits under Pennsylvania’s statute of limitations.
An effort in the state Legislature to allow a limited-time window on the statute for retroactive lawsuits against the Catholic dioceses in the state failed to come up for a vote in the Senate in October. The issue is thought to be dead because the current legislative session ends in mid-November.
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