Wages of Sin

The Telegram
March 14, 2015

http://www.thetelegram.com/Opinion/Editorials/2015-03-14/article-4075341/Wages-of-sin/1

Pope Francis has certainly found the right words for the problem of sex-offending priests among the ranks of the Catholic Church.

He’s said there is “absolutely no place in ministry for those who abuse minors,” adding “families need to know that the church is making every effort to protect their children. They should also know that they have every right to turn to the church with full confidence, for it is a safe and secure home.”

But while those words from the head of the church are heartening, actions a little lower down may be speaking a little louder.

You cannot help but be discouraged by stories like the ones this week about a bankruptcy proceeding by the Archdiocese of Milwaukee.

The archdiocese went into bankruptcy arguing that it couldn’t pay the potential costs of settlements and court verdicts for abuse by Catholic priests in the jurisdiction.

The archdiocese had argued in the proceedings that, while it had moved US$55 million into a trust fund and away from funds available to pay victims, that money couldn’t be recovered because it was protected from federal action as a matter of religious freedom. (Money from the trust fund, the archdiocese argued, was needed to pay for upkeep at cemeteries, because that was what the money had been donated for. It could, apparently, also be used to pay for lawyers to defend the sex abuse actions.)

If things had gone the way the archdiocese had planned, 128 abuse victims would have split US$4 million from an insurance settlement, while a further 450 who have filed claims would receive nothing at all.

One of the pieces of evidence pointed to by those trying to bring the US$55 million back into the pool of funds available to victims?

A June 2007 letter to the Vatican about the trust fund from then-archbishop of Milwaukee Timothy Dolan, which read, in part, “(by) transferring these assets to the trust, I foresee an improved protection of these funds from any legal claim and liability.”

Dolan is now a Cardinal in New York.

On Monday, the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago said the money was not protected from being claimed by victims, saying, “The case for a religious exception is even weaker here … since what the archdiocese asks us to do is write in an exception for purported fraud. The court has rejected the idea that fraudulent or improper actions can be excused in the name of religion …”

To be clear: the church is making progress in trying to address the issue of abuse by members of the priesthood.

But using legal tactics — such as the bankruptcies of parts of the church and the continuing argument that the Catholic Church as a whole is not responsible for damages done by priests in what the church hierarchy seems to want to argue are some kind of individual business units — makes the church look less sympathetic to abuse sufferers, and more like a heartless corporation.

Saying “put your money where your mouth is”?is perhaps a bit blunt.

Unfortunately, when it comes to the church and the Archdiocese of Milwaukee, it’s also apt.