AFP
May 13, 2010
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5hGkQp72JoBk0fn93kdkU0YzDlMTw
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| The diocese of Burlington in Vermont agreed to pay out 17.65 million dollars to 26 sex abuse victims |
WASHINGTON — A Roman Catholic diocese in the United States agreed Thursday to pay more than 20 million dollars to victims of predator priests and said it will sell some of its real estate to foot the bill.
The diocese of Burlington in the northeastern state of Vermont agreed to pay out 17.65 million dollars to 26 sex abuse victims and also settled three appeals cases for undisclosed amounts, Bishop of Burlington Salvatore Matano said in a letter posted on the diocese's website.
Jerry O'Neill of the legal firm that represented many of the victims said the diocese's total pay-out exceeded 20 million dollars.
The amounts awarded on appeal were being withheld at the request of the victims, he said.
To pay the bill, the diocese has put up for sale its administrative building in Burlington and its 26-acre (10.5-hectare) leisure facility, Camp Tara Holy Cross on Lake Champlain, and has secured a loan using other diocesan property as collateral, Matano said.
Many of the cases dated back to the 1970s and involved two priests, Father Edward Paquette and Father Alfred Willis, O'Neill said.
Six US dioceses, one archdiocese and a Jesuit group have filed for bankruptcy protection since the sex abuse scandal came to a head in the United States with the admission in 2002 by the archbishop of Boston that he had protected a priest he knew to have molested children.
The US Church has paid out an estimated three billion dollars to victims of abusive clergy, according to victim support group Bishop Accountability.
In recent months, the sex scandal has dragged in the church in Europe, with allegations coming from Germany, Belgium, Ireland, Austria of rampant abuse of children by clergy members.
Victims' groups want the Vatican to get tough and fire bishops who shelter predator priests, hand such priests over to the secular authorities for punishment, and establish a website with a database of the names of abusive clergy members.
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