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	Church Pays $225k to Settle Kansas City Priest Abuse Case Associated Press, carried in My Fox September 26, 2007 http://www.myfoxkc.com/myfox/pages/News/Detail?contentId= 4466086&version=2&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=TSTY&pageId=3.2.1 Kansas City, MO. — A man who claims he was sexually abused by a Roman Catholic priest has reached a $225,000 settlement with the Catholic Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph. The suit was one of three pending against Francis McGlynn in Jackson County Circuit Court. All three plaintiffs allege they were abused at St. Mary's Church in Independence when they were minors. McGlynn was scheduled to go on trial Monday, but the settlement was reached late yesterday. Before retiring in 1992, McGlynn served parishes in Kansas City, St. Joseph, Independence and elsewhere for 38 years. He previously denied the charges through his attorney. The diocese issued the following statement: "With the cooperation of the plaintiff and his attorneys, the diocese agreed to end the dispute with the hope that true healing can begin. As people of faith, the Catholic Church deplores sexual abuse as a profound contradiction of the teaching and witness of Jesus Christ. In many ways, the Church is a family. When one member of a family suffers, everyone suffers. We pray that healing and reconciliation may continue for all victims of sexual abuse. Diocesan representatives confirmed that funding for this settlement will come from self-insurance reserves. Funding of the settlement will not affect collections, parish assessments, or any capital improvement accounts. Stewardship of resources has enabled the diocese over the years to establish a self-insurance fund from premiums paid by parishes. Father McGlynn was ordained in 1954. Over the next 38 years, he served in a number of parishes in the diocese. In retirement, McGlynn ministered to the St. Luke Byzantine Catholic Church in Sugar Creek, which is an Eastern Rite parish of the Eparchy of Parma, Ohio. In 2002, the diocese learned of a complaint that, in the 1970s, McGlynn had behaved inappropriately in a ministerial relationship. The diocese informed McGlynn that he could no longer present himself as a Roman Catholic priest and also informed the Eparchy of Parma that he could no longer minister at the St. Luke Byzantine Catholic Church."
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