BishopAccountability.org
	Request to Keep Paying Benefits to Accused Priests WBAL November 20, 2009 http://wbal.com/apps/news/templates/story.aspx?articleid=40234&zoneid=3 The Catholic Diocese of Wilmington, which covers the Eastern Shore, is asking a bankruptcy judge to allow it to continue paying retiree benefits to priests who committed sexual abuse. After filing for Chapter 11 protection last month, the diocese told the judge it would not make any payments to priests accused of sexual abuse, even if the abuse had not been substantiated, without a court order. But in a filing late Thursday, the diocese said it has an obligation to care for retired clergy, including priests dismissed from public ministry but not yet defrocked. The motion asks for permission to continue paying benefits to six confirmed pedophiles, including 80-year-old former priest Francis DeLuca, who was defrocked after serving a jail term in New York for repeatedly abusing his grandnephew.
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