MINNESOTA
Fox 9
by Paul Blume
ST. PAUL, Minn. (KMSP) –
A federal bankruptcy judge has ruled that Catholic churches in Minnesota do not have to play a video produced by a group of clergy abuse victims at Sunday mass. Attorneys representing clergy abuse victims had asked the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis to compel its 187 parishes to play the video this weekend.
“We don’t have the power to reach people in the pews,” attorney Jeff Anderson said.
The video encourages victims of abuse by priests to come forward before the fast-approaching Aug. 3 settlement deadline. They argued it was the best way to reach abuse victims still “hiding in the shadows.” The archdiocese said no, and on Thursday a federal judge agreed, ruling it was produced more as an advocacy piece than a true notification mechanism.
“The archdiocese being opposed to it is disturbing,” Anderson said. “It’s disgraceful and I fault them for not allowing for it to be played.”
“The video, personally to me, is a very touching and moving piece,” said Charlie Rodgers, an attorney for the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis. “And there is an appropriate place for it. I think the victim’s advocates will make sure it is widely disseminated where it should be disseminated. But perhaps it’s not proper to disseminate it in a Sunday mass.”
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