BOSTON (MA)
Boston Globe
By Ralph Ranalli, Globe Staff | December 31, 2005
An attorney for the Catholic Archdiocese of Boston sharply disagreed yesterday with comments by lawyers for alleged victims of clergy sexual abuse, who contended that the church has adopted a hard line toward abuse survivors in ongoing settlement negotiations.
Thomas H. Hannigan Jr., the lawyer who represented the church in the landmark 2003 settlement in which the archdiocese paid $85 million to 554 people who said they had been sexually abused by clergy, said the church is trying to be both fair and compassionate to the second wave of alleged victims.
''We are very much trying to design a process that is just and sensitive to the survivors," Hannigan said yesterday. ''We are not trying to revictimize anyone or demean them."