BALTIMORE (MD)
WJZ-TV - CBS 2 [Baltimore MD]
November 5, 2025
By Mike Hellgren
Ten survivors of sexual abuse in the Archdiocese of Baltimore testified in federal court on Wednesday, and many expressed frustration at the Catholic church’s efforts toward accountability in the scandal.
The emotional hearing was part of the archdiocese’s bankruptcy proceedings, and the key question about how much the church will pay the victims remains unanswered in the long and painful court battle.
Shattered lives
The first survivor to testify detailed sexual abuse at Archbishop Curley.
“To shield a man who molested children is the greatest insult to our faith and to survivors,” he told the judge.
He said he left Catholic school “lost, confused, and broken.”
He read a letter the priest who abused him sent years later, describing the priest’s suicide attempt.
“As I laid on my bedroom floor bleeding, I thought of you,” he said. “I felt bad, I never got a chance to tell you how much I loved you. You were the guy I would have left everything for.”
The victim said it shows the “lasting impact of abuse and manipulation.”
The second survivor described being raped by a priest when he was 10 years old.
“I screamed, and he threatened me for my silence,” he said. “I wasn’t strong enough to fight back.”
He described bleeding for weeks afterward and said his parents discovered it and sent him for a colonoscopy. He said he never went to a doctor again until he was 50 and did not publicly reveal the abuse until he was 56.
“Do not pray for me. I see that as an attempt at abuse because my abuser would pray with me after each session,” he said in court.
Now, a college professor, he told the judge he feels “worthless.”
“I have no soul,” he said.
He has night terrors and has dealt with excessive drinking because of the pain.
The third survivor told the judge, “For decades, I’ve waited for this day to be heard.”
She said a nun sexually assaulted her at Villa Maria.
“I felt degraded, alone, powerless,” the victim told the packed courtroom. “I was never shown any love.”
The victim told the judge, “Institutions like this must learn that children’s lives are not expendable. These were the people I was supposed to trust. They violated me and took my dignity.”
The fourth survivor is in his 70s and said no one believed what happened to him.
“I don’t trust people,” he said.
He told the court he was sexually assaulted by a priest in East Baltimore who started by buying him dinners and gifts. “He was grooming me.”
“I am ashamed of what he did. I am ashamed,” the man said through tears.
He described the priest taking him to a room, locking the door, getting drunk, and then abusing him and forcing him to take a shower afterward.
“It’s so sad that you cannot tell anybody. They will mark you,” the man said.
Archbishop William Lori sat at the main table with the church’s representatives as Erin Maze described “grief and unimaginable pain” from her sexual abuse and addressed Archbishop Lori directly, “This is not about you!”
She read past statements the archbishop made back to him and told him, “You are not trying to equitably compensate us.”
Outside the court, Maze told WJZ Investigator Mike Hellgren, “It was important to me because I need to make it clear that the hypocrisy that is going on inside the Catholic Church is continuing.”
Maze said, “They are continuing to pretend they give a crap about us, and they don’t.”
A former TV news anchor described the pain of his abuse as “walking with a stain on your soul.”
He said of the church, “You’re sorry you got caught. You’re not sorry this happened.”
The journalist said making victims testify is a “circus” and told Archbishop Lori, “For what? Just so you can get an insurance loophole? Give me a break!”
“My sentence is a life sentence,” the survivor said. “This is never over.”
Bankruptcy case
The Archdiocese of Baltimore filed for bankruptcy days before Maryland’s Child Victims Act went into effect. The act eliminated the statute of limitations in sexual abuse cases and opened a flood of lawsuits with more than 900 claims against the church.
Survivors have sought to dismiss the bankruptcy and are fighting the Archdiocese’s claim of charitable immunity—that donations to a charity should not be used to pay civil claims.
The Archdiocese of Baltimore previously told WJZ, “By filing Chapter 11, the Archdiocese is seeking to provide the most orderly process in which victim survivors can be compensated, including from its insurance policies, while maintaining the mission and ministry of the church.”
After Wednesday’s hearing Archbishop Lori called it “soul searing to hear their stories. The things that happened to them and the lasting effects on their lives is something that touches all of us deeply.”
“I’ve apologized many times, but I realize there is no apology that can ever cover what has happened to these individuals,” Lori told WJZ.
According to court filings, the church has more than $100 million in assets and has proposed a $33 million fund to compensate victims. A settlement offer of about $35,000 for each victim was rejected and Lori told WJZ negotiations are continuing.
“I’m very anxious and hopeful there will be a settlement in the near future,” he said.
On compensation, Lori said, “It’s about the church seeking to the best of its ability to offer fair, just, equitable compensation, and at the same time, continuing our mission and our parishes and our schools, our charities.”
Supporters in court
Survivors hoped to make a lasting impression on the judge that they deserve fair compensation for the trauma that has haunted them for decades.
This is the third time they have addressed the judge.
Frank Schindler, a survivor who did not share his story at this hearing, came to support fellow victims.
“People may have different definitions of what charity is. To me, raping a child is not a charitable act,” Schindler told WJZ.
Teresa Lancaster, a lawyer who suffered abuse by the late Father Joseph Maskell, said the church long knew about her case and others. She previously testified about her abuse and has listened to many others share their stories.
“It was devastating. Once you hear it, and you hear how these lives were altered, it just floors you. It really does,” Lancaster said.
She encouraged the public to read the landmark report by Maryland’s Attorney General detailing decades of sexual abuse.
“It’s important to know that every time I Survivor tells their story, they relive it. It puts you back in the room, back with your abusers, so it’s not an easy task,” Lancaster said. “But I have a question for the church and for Lori. ‘Can you see us now? Can you hear us now? And can you stop the charitable immunity defense.'”