ALTOONA (PA)
Altoona Mirror
Jan. 5, 2019
Debate will continue about whether the decade of the 2020s really began on Jan. 1 of this year or whether that actually will occur on Jan. 1, 2021.
Either way, the period of time has been traumatic for the Roman Catholic Church here, across Pennsylvania, across the nation and, indeed, around the world.
The reason is the ongoing horrific, unconscionable child-sexual-abuse scandal.
That scandal of mind-shattering proportion — one that has challenged even the most devout Catholics’ beliefs, attitudes and trust — is destined to span the decade of the 2020s and perhaps beyond.
News reports during the final days of 2019 showed why.
On Dec. 27, the Mirror published a front-page Associated Press article “Pa. dioceses pay $84M to abuse victims,” which reported on the status of victim compensation involving seven of the eight Pennsylvania Roman Catholic dioceses.
The Altoona-Johnstown Diocese, which previously paid out $15.7 million on an earlier program of compensating clergy-abuse victims, was not at the center of last month’s article. Nonetheless, it is important to acknowledge that allegations leveled against several Altoona-Johnstown priests in 2019 could, if proven, result in additional compensation being paid to alleged victims.
A statewide grand jury report released in March 2016 revealed hundreds of children had been sexually assaulted by approximately 50 Altoona-Johnstown Diocese priests over 40 years.
The $84 million total payout by the seven dioceses in question was not troubling from the perspective of having compensated victims; actually, those victims probably were entitled to more, considering the physical horror and emotional damage the victims endured.
But, what is tragic is that the money paid out limited positive diocesan efforts that those payouts otherwise could have financed.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.