Sex abuse cases may bite into Boston archdiocese’s finances
BOSTON Archbishop Bernard Law has insisted the archdiocese’s decision to pull out of a multi-million dollar sex abuse settlement was a financial necessity, but Catholics expressed concern the move could lead the church into further economic strife.
”There are not a lot of people who want to give money to the cardinal given the current circumstances,” said Harvard University professor and Catholic Mary Jo Bane.
”They are obviously having a lot of trouble raising money at this point. It seems to be yet another example of the hierarchy making extremely poor decisions.”
The finance council of the archdiocese on Friday rejected a settlement proposal of $20-30 million for 86 alleged victims of defrocked Boston priest John Geoghan, citing grave economic concerns as the number of individuals coming forward with abuse allegations mushrooms.
”Up until a month ago, we thought that there were about 30 more outstanding claims beyond those 86. In recent weeks, however, that number of 30 has grown to in excess of 150 additional claims,” Law said during Sunday Mass, where he promoted his annual fundraising campaign.
”(The council’s) concern, and I think it is a laudable concern, is that justice and equity would not be served by agreeing to this settlement for 86 persons, which would thereby negatively affect the response which the archdiocese can later make to the other victims.”
Still, Mitchell Garabedian, attorney for Geoghan’s victims, said, he would now go to trial with the case.
”I negotiated with these people in good faith for 11 and a half months,” he said on MSNBC television. ”They assured me they had the money for the settlement of the Geoghan cases. I told them hundreds of individuals would be coming forward. They knew it.”
The archdiocese did not return repeated phone calls regarding the issue.
Boston would not be the first American archdiocese to pay out large settlement sums in sex abuse suits.
In the western state of New Mexico, the Santa Fe diocese shelled out $50-million. In Lafayette Louisiana, the church paid $18-million. The Archdiocese of Los Angeles, representing the largest Catholic community in the nation, paid out over five million dollars.
In Dallas Texas, the initial court order could have bankrupted the archdiocese, but it was reduced to $31-million allowing the church to pay — after having sold off church property.
Law said he hoped victims would agree to take part in the finance council’s recommended settlement fund — participation in which would demand a pledge not to sue — but an archdiocese adviser speaking anonymously to the New York Times said that in case the church is sued, it may invoke the state’s charitable immunity rule, limiting awards to $20 000.
David Smith, the Boston Archdiocese’s top financial officer, has said the church would cap spending nearly $40-million to settle all abuse claims.
”It certainly looks bad if the archdiocese is stepping away from even that level of accountability and responsibility,” said Will O’Brien, editor at the Philadelphia-based Catholic magazine, The Other Side.
”Families in different situations will have to use more intensive legal advocacy.” Maureen March, communications director at Boston’s Catholic Charities — which is affiliated with, but not controlled by, the archdiocese — said fundraising to date is some 10% behind where it was last year at this time.
”We keep reaffirming our separateness (from the archdiocese) as a corporation,” she said.
”Funds that we raise go to helping the poor and social service programs. The money we raise does not go to the archdiocese.”
According to the Boston Herald daily newspaper, the archdiocese has only $8-million remaining on a $20-million line of credit with Fleet Bank, which was to have been used to make the first deposit of $7,5-million in a settlement pool for the 86 Geoghan plaintiffs.
Additionally, the Herald said, the church has some tens of millions left in insurance, although it is exhausted for certain time periods when abuse might have taken place. ? Sapa-AFP