Part-Time Pundit: This is not Compensation; This is Revenge

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September 1, 2005

This is not Compensation; This is Revenge

recent bit of news about the Catholic sex abuse scandal and the dioceses that have filed for bankruptcy. Namely, the court ruled that all assets are fair game, including those in the parishes (which the Bishop has little control of), and presumably Catholic Charities if run by the diocese.

Stockton attorney Larry Drivon, who represents hundreds of Californians suing the Catholic Church over childhood sexual abuse, said the Spokane ruling sends a warning to other Catholic dioceses considering bankruptcy to avoid payment of multimillion-dollar jury verdicts in sex-abuse cases.
"They are not going to get anywhere in bankruptcy," he said. "This is exactly what we've been saying since Day One, that all of the Catholic assets within the diocese are available to pay these plaintiffs," Drivon said.

Drivon said the ruling also meant that money held in restricted funds within dioceses for special projects, such as construction of a cathedral, can be used to pay judgments in sex-abuse cases, contradicting what some church officials have told donors.

"They have told their parishioners, 'Don't worry about the funds that you gave us for the cathedral, because these funds are separate and cannot be used for lawsuits.' Well, they can," Drivon said.

I want to be sympathetic, I really do. They do deserve just compensation. But this no longer appears to be an issue of compensation; it appears to be an attack to eliminate the very existence of the Church in those areas. Never mind money that was meant to feed the homeless or money that was donated for specific reasons; now the plaintiff lawyers want it all.

Posted by John Bambenek at September 1, 2005 8:19 AM