Catholic Church tries to kill child abuse bill

By Liam Migdail-Smith
Reading Eagle
June 13, 2016

http://www.readingeagle.com/news/article/catholic-church-tries-to-kill-child-abuse-bill

State Rep. Nick Miccarelli said he's developed a thick skin as a lawmaker.

But the Delaware County Republican said that didn't prepare him for what he saw last week in the weekly bulletin of the church where he faithfully attends Mass and confesses his sins.

The blurb was amid routine notices: "State Representative Miccarelli voted in favor of House Bill 1947 which states that private institutions can be sued as far as 40 years ago for millions of dollars, while public institutions may not be sued for any crimes committed in the past."

"I was baffled at first," Miccarelli said. "And then I was upset."

In addition to giving an overly simplified (and factually inaccurate) account of the bill he backed to support victims of child sexual abuse, he said, the notice came without warning. He said he heard similar stories from other Catholic lawmakers who had supported the measure.

In a lengthy Facebook post, Miccarelli fired back.

"To explain to the citizens of my district that I bear no ill will toward the Church I belong to, is something that I never thought I would have to do," he wrote. "Frankly, I would much rather be chastised from the altar, than to be damned for not allowing justice to be done."

The clash was one of several reported as Catholic leaders launched a campaign to enlist church faithful in their bid to defeat the bill to retroactively extend time limits for abuse victims to sue their abusers and institutions that shielded them.

In the Philadelphia Archdiocese, letters were distributed through parishes, sent to parents of Catholic school students and, in many cases, read at Masses. Some parishioners and parents expressed outrage in news reports.

Ken Gavin, archdiocese spokesman, said the response has been overwhelmingly positive. He said pastors shared public information and were not directed to lambaste elected officials.

"Obviously, many, many parishioners are very concerned about this legislation," he said in an email. "For those constituents to contact elected officials to voice such concern is a very normal thing. It's also not a new development. The Archdiocese has frequently asked pastors to make information available to parishioners about various legislative items and to encourage contact with elected officials."

The Allentown Diocese distributed a letter through church bulletins in April, and parents of parochial school students were contacted, diocese spokesman Matt Kerr said.

Some parishioners have been supportive, he said, but the diocese has also heard from those angered by it. He said regional church leaders were asked by the Pennsylvania Catholic Conference to assist in getting information to the faithful.

"They have encouraged the dioceses to help them get the word out about what we do for victims because they have found that people don't know that, and that's an important part of the story," Kerr said.

Supporters of the bill have blasted the move and say the messaging and public-relations tactics appear to follow an identical playbook to the one church leaders used to defeat similar legislation in Colorado in 2006.

Philadelphia Archbishop Charles J. Chaput was archbishop of the Denver Archdiocese at the time.

Gavin called the suggestion Chaput was brought to Pennsylvania to quash the effort to extend the statutes of limitation here "completely false."

"He was brought here to be archbishop of Philadelphia and for no other reason," Gavin said.

Marci A. Hamilton, a national advocate for overhauling abuse time limits, contends Chaput's move is no coincidence.

But she said she doesn't think the strategy used in Colorado will be as successful in Pennsylvania, where public trust in Catholic leaders' handling of abuse was rocked by grand jury reports detailing cover-ups in Philadelphia and more recently in the Altoona area.

"Those who are hearing this message are not hearing it with the same ears as they were hearing it in Denver," Hamilton said.