BALTIMORE (MD)
Baltimore Sun [Baltimore MD]
September 28, 2023
By Maya Lora
Victims’ advocates urged adult survivors of sexual abuse by members of the clergy to come forward Thursday ahead of a landmark Maryland law going into effect Sunday.
The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, known as SNAP, held a news conference outside of the Baltimore Basilica on Cathedral Street to discuss the Child Victims Act, the possibility of the Baltimore archdiocese declaring bankruptcy and the still-redacted names in the attorney general’s report on child sexual abuse within the archdiocese.
“I want to reach out and urge anyone who is a survivor, who is a victim, who thinks of themselves as a victim, to please come forward,” Maryland Director of SNAP David Lorenz said. “You don’t necessarily have to file a lawsuit to come forward and begin the healing.”
Lorenz also asked parents to check in with their children, saying that he himself only came forward about his experience with child sexual abuse when his mother asked him when he was an adult about his abuser, a priest, who had been publicly accused of abusing others.
On Sunday, the Child Victims Act goes into effect. Signed into law by Democratic Gov. Wes Moore in April, the law removes the civil statute of limitations for child sexual abuse lawsuits, allowing survivors to file lawsuits regardless of when the abuse occurred. The law makes Maryland one of the few states without restrictions on such lawsuits.
The Maryland Catholic Conference, the lobbying arm for the Catholic Church’s three Maryland dioceses, repeatedly opposed the bill, calling it unconstitutional.
In response to written questions Thursday, archdiocese spokesperson Christian Kendzierski sent a Sept. 5 statement from Archbishop William E. Lori in which he said “the legislation has the potential to have devastating financial consequences” for multiple organizations, including the archdiocese. Lori repeated that “many” believe the law violates Maryland’s constitution, which is disputed by Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown.
In that message, Lori confirmed the archdiocese is considering declaring bankruptcy in anticipation of the potentially high volume of lawsuits the organization may face after Sunday.
“Clearly, this is premature,” Lorenz said. “We haven’t filed a single suit yet.”
Under a bankruptcy case, survivors would likely have to make a claim against the archdiocese within an established time frame and would be unable to do so once the case closed, which Lorenz said undermines a key component of the Child Victims Act: the ability to come forward at any time.
Frank Schindler, another survivor of child sexual abuse and member of SNAP, said the bankruptcy process would set “arbitrary deadlines on survivors’ attempts to seek justice.”
“They are trying to rip away the opportunity that was granted to survivors by eviscerating the Child Victims Act,” Schindler said. “They’re trying to make themselves the victims and the survivors the perpetrators.”
SNAP’s news conference comes two days after the Maryland Attorney General’s Office released a newer, less-redacted version of its report on the history of child sexual abuse in the Catholic Archdiocese of Baltimore. The report, first published in April, covers how at least 156 clergy and laypersons abused more than 600 children and young adults throughout the 20th century in addition to church efforts to cover up said abuse.
In his message to parishioners, Lori said the “underlying issue that has led us to this place is indeed horrific” and that “innocent children were harmed, and lives were ruined.”
The newer public version of the report still omits the names of five high-ranking Catholic officials who, according to the report, helped enable and cover up abuse; those officials have previously been named by The Baltimore Sun. The name of one alleged abuser has also been withheld because that person, along with the five officials, are appealing the court’s decision to release the names.
An additional alleged abuser’s name was withheld because the attorney general’s office was unable to contact him, though the Sun was able to identify and contact that person.
Originally, the names of 10 accused abusers and five Catholic officials were blacked-out in the attorney general’s report. In August, Baltimore Circuit Judge Robert Taylor ruled that all of those names could be released, and eight appear in the newest version of the report.
Lorenz again called on the archdiocese to release the redacted names, calling its refusal to do so “unconscionable.”
“That will help survivors come forward,” Lorenz said. “When they see the names of abusers and officials who helped those abusers, that takes them away from being a victim and starts them on their path for survivor because they realize they’re not alone, that this abuser abused other people.”
Lorenz’s wife, Judy Lorenz, confirmed that since the publication of the attorney general’s report, people have come to SNAP to share their own stories of abuse.
At several points, SNAP called on Lori to “do the right thing,” in reference to both releasing redacted names and the potential for declaring bankruptcy.
“Morally and spiritually,” Schindler said, “the Catholic Church declared bankruptcy years ago. By taking this action, all they’re doing is doubling down on that declaration.”