PROVIDENCE (RI)
Providence Journal [Providence RI]
March 12, 2026
By Katherine Gregg, Providence Journal
On Thursday night, Rhode Island’s Catholic Diocese of Providence will once again face off against the victims of clergy sexual abuse fighting for the legal right to sue the church for what was done to them as children.
The question: Will the Diocese of Providence prevail again this year, in the state Senate, in the wake of Attorney General Peter Neronha’s scathing report on the “culture” of secrecy and concealment within the church that hid decades of child sexual abuse by clergy members?
In the seven pages of written testimony that he submitted to the House Judiciary Committee in advance of a March 12 hearing on proposed legal remedies for long-ago victims, the Rev. Bernard Healey warned lawmakers about the financial and legal havoc they could create in Rhode Island’s Catholic world – and beyond.
More: RI’s first full report on clergy sex abuse of children released. Read our coverage.
What would the legislation do?
It would lift the expired time limits on lawsuits by victims against the church and other “institutions” for a two-year period ending on June 30, 2028, known as a “revival window.”
It would apply to civil suits “alleging negligent supervision” or conduct that “caused or contributed” to the abuse of a child, including the “concealment of sexual abuse of a child.”
Warning that RI’s Catholic diocese could go bankrupt
“Nearly forty Catholic dioceses across the United States have gone into bankruptcy as a result of the passage of legislation similar to H. 7200,” Healey told the lawmakers. “Just last week, the Catholic Diocese of El Paso filed for bankruptcy to shield itself from massive potential liabilities in cases stemming from priest abuse of children stretching back to the 1950s.”
Without doing anything to protect “young people today,” he wrote, “The most obvious practical result of bills such as this is to generate lawsuits against the Church and other institutions both public and private. This will result in millions of dollars in legal fees for plaintiffs’ attorneys.”
“In other states, retroactive changes to the law [also] resulted in dioceses declaring bankruptcy and placing parishes, schools, and charitable ministries at risk. In short, this legislation will severely undermine the Catholic community’s ministries in Rhode Island and is likely to result in lost jobs and impaired programs and services to the poor and needy.”
Priest says other organizations would be vulnerable to lawsuits
“This issue is not unique to churches,” Healey, who is the pastor of Our Lady of Mercy Church in East Greenwich, wrote.
To make his point, Healey attached to his testimony a 10-page list of “sex abuses cases” since 2019 in public schools in Rhode Island where a teacher, an athletic coach, custodian, a bus monitor or, in at least one case, other students, inappropriately touched a child, indulged in indecent exposure, possessed child pornography or were charged with other sex-related crimes.
As it has in the case in other states, legislation such as H.7200 is also “likely to result in numerous lawsuits against the state of Rhode Island, its cities and towns, and school districts placing serious financial stress on state and local finances,” he said.
In his testimony, Healey also cited the findings of a 2025 Los Angeles Times investigation that found unscrupulous law firms advertising, recruiting and “even offer[ing] to pay individuals to file fraudulent claims alleging sexual abuse as children,” which included former foster children and children who had spent time in the county-run juvenile hall, knowing “Los Angeles County could not verify the claims and would settle them.”
“Such advertisements by law firms are already appearing in Rhode Island in anticipation of this legislation,” Healey claimed.
Among Healey’s key points the against bill, introduced by House Judiciary Chairwoman Carol McEntee:
- “Statutes of limitations promote fairness and closure by preventing stale claims in which evidence is lost, memories change, and witnesses disappear.”
- Placing time limits on the filing of civil claims for damages guards the targets of lawsuits against false claims, and “allow[s] defendants an ability to plan for the future without uncertainty inherent in potential liability.”
- Time limits ensure that “contemporary standards will not judge long-past actions.”
Priest says diocese has accepted responsibility for clergy sex abuse
“The understanding of child abuse in the mid-1960s was not remotely comparable to the understanding of the problem today,” Healey wrote.
But he also reiterated the regret the leaders of the diocese feel today for what happened in the past. The last documented instance was in 2011, though Neronha cited more recent evidence that the church may not yet have “owned” the problem.
“The Diocese of Providence accepts their responsibility for the abuse that occurred within our ranksand will support survivors as long as necessary,” Healey said.
“It has paid over $21 million in legal settlements to victims of clergy sex abuse. It has provided and continues to provide millions of dollars for direct financial assistance for victims’ counseling. Programs are in place that continue to reach out to victims and their families and provide the resources for healing,” he continued.