SYRACUSE (NY)
WSTM-TV/CNYCentral.com - NBC 3 [Syracuse NY]
April 22, 2025
By Conor Wight
One of them had dreams of becoming a police officer. Another had aspirations of taking on the role of a public school superintendent and helping students. Others simply had expectations of stable, loving marriages and healthy relationships with their children. In front of a federal judge in Syracuse, 24 people told the heart breaking stories of how sexual abuse at the hands of Central New York priests destroyed the futures they had envisioned for themselves and their loved ones.
“Many have or will die silently,” one survivor told Judge Wendy Kinsella.
Tuesday’s emotional Bankruptcy Court session came at the request of the Survivors’ Committee, the group representing survivors in the settlement with the Syracuse Roman Catholic Diocese. In 2023, unable to handle the financial impact of more than 100 lawsuits filed against the diocese for abuse under the Child Victims Act, the diocese agreed to a $100 million settlement with hundreds of local survivors.
Ahead of a confirmation hearing on payouts on April 28, the committee asked the court for the opportunity for survivors to make impact statements.
“Having the opportunity to be heard is unbelievably important as a step towards healing, not only for the survivors, but also for the church,” Kevin Braney said.
Braney is the Committee Chair and a survivor, detailing his own abuse he said happened at St. Ann’s in Manlius. He said a priest raped him for about two years, starting when he was just 15-years-old. Braney said four priests in total were involved, either directly taking part in the abuse or helping to keep it quiet.
23 others told similar stories. Fellow survivors wiped away tears and sobbed as they heard each other talk about the diocese protecting multiple priests who they claimed repeatedly sexually assaulted them.
One survivor told Judge Kinsella about ‘Father C,’ who he said was meant to help him with speech problems he was developing at the age of 12. He said that on the very first visit with ‘Father C’ at the Assumption Church in Syracuse, the priest sexually assaulted him. The assaults would continue, he said, throughout the summer. It finally ended when he convinced his mother to stop sending him to the church, but he never told her directly about what was happening.
It happened in 1976. The impact, he said, lasts to this day. He was a good student who wanted to protect his community as a police officer. Instead, to cope with the trauma of what the priest did to him, he got hooked on alcohol and drugs. By age 16, he had spent time in jail. He would end up spending years in state prison, becoming a convicted felon after breaking into cars and committing burglaries.
The burden of silence was common amongst the people who found the strength to speak out publicly in the courtroom on Tuesday. They felt the priests had all the power, so they never spoke up at the time; if they did tell someone, including parents, they were often told to never repeat those allegations. If they went to authority figures within the church, they were either ignored or the church would simply move the offending priest to another locality, allowing them to continue assaulting other children.
Some said that they still believe in a Catholic God. Others said they have found a way to even forgive the priest that abused them. Forgiveness for the institution of the Church, which for decades covered for and supported abusive priests around the globe, was harder to find.
“God did not do this, like I was told repeatedly. The Church did this,” another survivor said, who explained he still uses alcohol as a way to fall asleep at night.
Bishop Douglas Lucia was ordered to be in attendance. He listened intently as each survivor spoke over the course of about six hours worth of statements. He declined to comment after the proceeding, but told the I-Team earlier this month that these cases make him physically nauseous. He said he is committed to doing everything possible to ensure this kind of abuse is not still happening in Central New York churches and schools. Braney and other survivors said they believe him, thanking him for the work he’s done since taking the position.
Judge Kinsella thanked survivors for their bravery as court adjourned. She said that while the court must continue to be an impartial adjudicator, she acknowledged the “courage and strength” of those who shared their stories.
“We send you with the best wishes for healing and for peace,” Kinsella said.
The case has dragged primarily thanks to a SCOTUS decision impacting settlement precedent and involved insurance company’s trying to pay out as little as possible, with their attorneys continuing to make arguments in court. Some survivors, including a mother whose daughter wrote an impact statement for the court on Tuesday, have died in the two years that passed since the settlement was announced.
Survivors are hoping to put this legal matter to bed next week, but the Survivors’ Committee is pledging to continue to do work to protect those in the Church.