HARRISBURG (PA)
PennLive
February 12, 2019
By Ivey DeJesus
Catholic bishops have long held that victims compensation programs offer a chance for victims to heal.
That theory is about to be put to the test for potentially hundreds of victims of clergy sex abuse across the Diocese of Harrisburg.
On Tuesday, officials from the diocese rolled out a program that will pay out millions of dollars in financial compensation to adults who were sexually abused as children by priests and church officials. The diocese has not announced the size of the fund or estimates of how much will be awarded to settle individual claims.
Some victims welcome the idea of a compensation award, particularly in light of the fact that the legislative reforms that would allow victims to sue predatory priests in court have up to now failed in the General Assembly.
The majority of victims linked to the findings of the grand jury report are timed out of the legal system because the statute of limitations have expired for them.
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