Colorado’s priest abuse reparations program has paid more than $3 million to 28 victims so far

DENVER (CO)
Colorado Sun

April 22, 2020

By Jennifer Brown

The program, which was announced in October, stems from a massive review of church files that revealed abuses of 166 children going back decades.

The Catholic Church so far has paid more than $3 million to 28 victims of priest abuse in Colorado as part of a review of claims by an independent committee.

The work of the oversight committee is ongoing, but its leaders announced Wednesday that they have received claims from 91 victims of abuse by priests who worked in one of Colorado’s three dioceses.

The Independent Reconciliation and Reparations Program, which began in October, is run by Kenneth Feinberg and Camille Biros, who handled similar compensation programs for priest abuse victims in New York, New Jersey, California and Pennsylvania. The three dioceses in Colorado — Denver, Colorado Springs and Pueblo — agreed when the program was announced to abide by the administrators’ compensation determinations.

The paid claims include at least one from each of the dioceses, program spokeswoman Amy Weiss said.

The reparations program comes after a massive review of the church’s files by an independent investigator.

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