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	Victim Fears Complacency in Church over Sex Abuse He'll Visit Louisville Catholic Churches As Part of a 'Pilgrimage' By Brett Barrouquere The Associated Press, carried in Lexington Herald-Leader May 11, 2006 http://www.kentucky.com/mld/kentucky/news/local/14550626.htm LOUISVILLE - David Clohessy is worried about "creeping complacency" by the Catholic Church in dealing with sex abuse allegations. "The church wants us to believe its all ancient history," said Clohessy, head of Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests. "It's not, not at all." So, Clohessy, of Chicago, is planning a "pilgrimage" to Louisville today, with stops at various churches around the city where documented cases of sexual abuse took place. After touring the city, Clohessy said, he'll head to the Bardstown area to visit parishes where priests who molested children were later moved. "We're going to go down and around to some places where prominent abusive priests worked," Clohessy said. Archdiocese spokeswoman Cecilia Price said the church is aware of Clohessy's visit. "We do not have a particular objection to the plans," Price said. Clohessy said he picked Louisville for the trip because the archdiocese, in June 2004, settled more than 250 lawsuits for $25.7 million in a class-action settlement with 243 plaintiffs. The archdiocese settled one other suit in April for $300,000 with a man who opted out of the larger settlement. "Because so much has been reported there, it is one of the primary places that both the hopelessness and the complacency are fairly severe," Clohessy said. The Roman Catholic Church has spent about $1.5 billion to settle cases across the United States in recent years. The Roman Catholic Diocese of Covington recently settled a class-action suit for $85 million for 389 alleged victims. Clohessy is concerned that, as the settlements are paid and the issue falls from the public consciousness, the church will feel little pressure to institute reforms that will keep a repeat of the abuses from happening again. "Some feel there's little that can be done to bring about real reform," Clohessy said. "Financial settlements to the wounded victims are the bare minimum. They are not a guarantee of real reform."
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