PENNSYLVANIA
Philadelphia Inquirer
By Craig R. McCoy and Angela Couloumbis
Inquirer Staff Writers
The Catholic Church in Pennsylvania is lobbying against a proposal that would allow sexual-abuse victims from decades ago to file lawsuits, saying it could cause financial ruin for the church.
Some Harrisburg lawmakers want the state to create a one-year "window" to allow victims to sue, regardless of when they were abused. This would relax a strict statute of limitations that has kept virtually all of those cases out of the courts.
Pushing for the change are victims' groups and the Philadelphia District Attorney's Office, which issued a scathing report on clergy sexual abuse in September.
On Friday afternoon, after being questioned by The Inquirer, the Philadelphia Archdiocese issued a statement supporting some proposed reforms and explaining its opposition to any change that would permit old allegations to enter the courts.