JOHNSTOWN (PA)
Tribune Democrat
May 14, 2019
By Dave Sutor
Camille Biros and Kenneth Feinberg are arguably the most influential people involved in the process of financially supporting victims of child sexual abuse perpetrated by Roman Catholic priests in Pennsylvania.
The two attorneys from Washington, D.C., administer compensation funds for the Archdiocese of Philadelphia and the dioceses of Pittsburgh, Erie, Scranton and Allentown. They determine what – if any – money victims receive.
But Biros and Feinberg play another role – beyond merely financial decisions – as their reputation is used to assuage concerns that the dioceses might be controlling the decisions. They have handled numerous high-profile funds, including ones related to the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and Boston Marathon bombings.
Harrisburg and Greensburg compensation funds are being administered by Commonwealth Mediation and Conciliation Inc. from Massachusetts, while Altoona-Johnstown is the only diocese in the state without a fund.
“I’m not familiar with the Massachusetts fund administrators,” said Richard Serbin, a Blair County attorney, who has represented victims of clergy sex abuse in Pennsylvania for decades. “But Feinberg and Biros I do not feel – given their reputation – that they would allow the dioceses to control the day-to-day decisions.”
Biros described herself and Feinberg as “totally independent.”
“They hire us with the understanding that we’re going to run these programs, and we’re going to make these determinations, and we’re going to offer amounts of money that we deem to be appropriate,” Biros said. “And they have really nothing to say about it. That’s the agreement.”
But “nevertheless, the diocese has a great deal of control,” according to Serbin.
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