WISCONSIN
Green Bay Press-Gazette
Editorial
Last week, the Archdiocese of Milwaukee released an estimated 6,000 pages of documents related to clergy sex abuse. It is believed this is only a tenth of all the information given to victims’ attorneys during litigation.
But those 6,000 pages confirmed what many had talked about — some priests preying on parishioners, officials publicly denying it while privately covering it up and moving abusers to other parishes. And they included some revelations, such as payments to priests and the legal, but questionable, transfer of $57 million to a trust that would provide “protection of these funds from any legal claim and liability.”
While the accusations of clergy sexual abuse in the Catholic Church are not new, the documents renewed some of the bitterness many have felt toward the church.
It’s hard not to be upset when the church questioned the integrity of many of the victims while offering some priests accused of abuse buyouts of $20,000 — $10,000 when they applied to leave and $10,000 when the pope dismissed them.
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