PENNSYLVANIA
NEPA News
By DAVID B. CARUSO, Associated Press Writer, The Associated Press
March 16, 2005
Lawyers for Roman Catholic dioceses across the state said they intend to ask judges to dismiss dozens of lawsuits filed by people who allege that they were sexually abused by priests many years ago.
The move follows a ruling by a panel of Superior Court judges on Monday that Pennsylvania's two-year statute of limitations on personal injury lawsuits generally prohibits people allegedly molested by clergy decades ago from suing now, so many years later.
The ruling applied only to claims filed by 18 plaintiffs against the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, but lawyers for the church said they believed it set out a standard that will apply to most of the suits currently pending against church officials throughout the state.
"We think that the Superior Court got it right," said William Pietragallo II, a lawyer for the diocese of Pittsburgh, which faces more than 30 suits. "The statute of limitations is one of the fundamental tenets of Anglo-American jurisprudence, and the court has recognized that."
The Pittsburgh diocese filed a motion Tuesday asking an Allegheny Court judge to reconsider an earlier ruling that had allowed several sexual abuse lawsuits to go forward. That decision was based on reasoning that the Superior Court now appears to have rejected, Pietragallo said Wednesday.