Advocates push for abuse victims to have more time

fraud and cover-up by the diocese.

Settlements with Pennsylvania’s victims of clergy abuse have mostly been small compared to nine-figure settlements in Minnesota and earlier in California, which had also followed a window in the statute of limitations there.

The Rev. Thomas Doyle, an expert in the canon law of the Catholic Church, noted that the Twin Cities settlement came mainly from insurance, not church coffers.

He urged people not to be swayed by Catholic leaders’ arguments that bankruptcy settlements would drain needed funds from parishioners and schoolchildren who weren’t at fault for the misdeeds of past bishops. Father Doyle, a former adviser to bishops and longtime advocate for victims, gave expert testimony to the Pennsylvania grand jury and advised the attorney who handled the Minnesota settlement.

“The only reason the church is trying to stop it — they don’t care about people going to schools and parishes —they care about their reputation,” Father Doyle said. “When you have a grand jury investigation with a damning report, it’s very difficult for the defense, the Church, to come up with any valid excuses why they acted the way they did.”

The 40th statewide grand jury recently completed its term and reviewed half a million pages of internal documents from the dioceses of Pittsburgh, Greensburg, Erie, Harrisburg, Allentown and Scranton. The dioceses received permission to review the 800-plus page report in advance to prepare their replies.