Category: Legal Barriers to Justice for Victims

Catholic Church Offers Cash to Settle Abuse Claims—With a Catch

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Article Title
Victims who agree to participate in these programs give up their right to sue and end up settling for much less than they could probably win at trial.

Catholic Church Offers Cash to Settle Abuse Claims—With a Catch

Link to Article:       https://www.wsj.com/articles/catholic-church-offers-cash-to-settle-abuse-claimswith-a-catch-11562854848

Source:  Wall Street Journal

Author(s):  Ian Lovett

Date:  July 11, 2019 

Synopsis of / Excerpts from Article 

According to the article:  

A potential flood of lawsuits has spurred the Catholic Church to offer mediation, only if accusers agree not to sue

Four decades ago, Jimmy Pliska says, he was sexually assaulted by his local parish priest on an overnight fishing trip. Now, he has an agonizing decision to make.

Amid a recent wave of sexual-abuse investigations and allegations against the Catholic Church, Mr. Pliska wants to sue the Diocese of Scranton, which employed the priest. But the case is too old to bring to court. Although state lawmakers have proposed lifting the statute of limitations on the sexual abuse of children, it is unclear when—or if—that will happen.

The diocese, meanwhile, has set up a program to financially compensate victims of clergy sexual abuse. In exchange for accepting money from the program, the diocese won’t have to release any documents that might show what church officials knew about the alleged abuse. Mr. Pliska also would be barred from suing the church.

Time is running short for Mr. Pliska, 55 years old, to decide. The church has set a July 31 deadline. “The church shouldn’t be the judge,” he said of the program. “They should be held accountable.”

The Catholic Church has a great deal riding on whether alleged victims take part in compensation programs like the one in Scranton.

Since a widely publicized report last year from the Pennsylvania attorney general, which documented the abuse of more than 1,000 children by Catholic clergy in the state over half a century, public officials around the U.S. have looked for their own ways to pursue allegations made against the church.

More than a dozen states are considering lifting the civil statute of limitations on child sexual abuse or already have done so. The legislation, if passed, would unleash a surge of new lawsuits against the church.

A new wave of sexual abuse litigation would present a serious threat to both the church’s finances and its reputation. Large jury awards and settlements could cost the church millions, while legal discovery could make public documents showing how dioceses dealt with abuse.

As lawmakers debate the measures, Catholic dioceses in at least six states have tried to stem the tide by offering victim compensation programs.

“While no financial compensation can change the past, it is my hope that this program will help survivors in their healing and recovery process,” Joseph C. Bambera, the Scranton bishop, said when the diocese launched its program last fall.

The programs, which are run by third-party administrators outside the church, offer swifter resolution than trials, and alleged victims are less likely to walk away empty-handed. They also shield the church against lawsuits that could cause greater damage.

Payouts pale compared with what victims have won in court. Those who accept settlements must agree not to sue the church in the future.

The programs could ultimately save Catholic institutions hundreds of millions of dollars, said Marci Hamilton, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania who also has worked on clergy abuse cases as a lawyer.

“Settle as many cases as you possibly can, because statute of limitations reform is inevitably going to pass,” she said. “It lets them have the dual action of looking generous but protecting as many assets of the organization as possible.”

Catholic Church in California Lobbies Against Legislation Aimed at Protecting Children and Preventing Abuse

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Catholic Church spends millions of dollars every year to oppose legislation aimed at protecting children from sexual abuse.
Article Title

Catholic Church in California Lobbies Against Legislation Aimed at Protecting Children and Preventing Abuse

Link to Article:      http://www.snapnetwork.org/catholic_church_california_lobbies_against_legislation_jul19

Source:  SNAP  —  Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

Author(s):  SNAP

Date:  July 10, 2019 

Synopsis of / Excerpts from Article 

According to the article:  

A bill that was aimed at reforming mandated reporting laws to ensure that all crimes committed against children are reported to the authorities immediately was withdrawn from consideration following extensive lobbying by the Catholic Conference of California. We are disappointed that, once again, church officials have mobilized to defeat legislation that could help prevent more cases of abuse in the future.

SB 360, a bill that was sponsored by State Senator Jerry Hill, would have removed an exception to California’s mandated reporting rule that allowed Catholic clergy to refrain from reporting any crime they learned about in confessional. But thanks to extensive lobbying from the Catholic Conference of California, this loophole will remain intact for the time being.

Once again, church officials have poured tons of money, time and effort into defeating legislative reform aimed at preventing abuse. Given that the church has spent more than $10 million knocking down other legislation that would benefit survivors and protect children, we are not surprised, simply disappointed.

We hope that SB 360 will be reintroduced when the time is right and that parishioners and the public will rally against church officials protecting themselves and will instead rally for the protection of children and the prevention of abuse. We also hope that Catholics in California who are as disturbed as we are will be sure to let church officials at their own parish know about their disappointment.

Rhode Island lawmakers pass bill giving sexual abuse victims 35 years to bring lawsuits

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Rhode Island State House, Providence R.I. (Lane Turner/Globe Staff)
Article Title

Rhode Island lawmakers pass bill giving sexual abuse victims 35 years to bring lawsuits

Link to Article:       https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/rhode-island/2019/06/26/rhode-island-lawmakers-pass-bill-giving-sexual-abuse-victims-years-bring-lawsuits/KVFDNvZBoJ5dsRfa95seiP/story.html

Source:  Boston Globe

Author(s):  Amanda Milkovits

Date:  June 26, 2019 

Synopsis of / Excerpts from Article 

According to the article:  

The Rhode Island General Assembly overwhelmingly passed legislation on Wednesday to give victims of childhood sexual abuse more time to sue perpetrators and hold institutions and public entities accountable.

The legislation heads to the desk of Governor Gina Raimondo, who is expected to sign it into law.

It extends the statute of limitations to 35 years after victims reach adulthood.

Victims will have 35 years to bring lawsuits against individual perpetrators, regardless of whether the case had been “time-barred” under previous laws. The bill also keeps state law allowing victims to file suits within seven years of “discovering” they’d been abused.

The bill caps a years-long battle brought by survivors of sexual abuse, and in the waning days of this session, appeared that the effort was going to fail when the House and Senate brought forward conflicting bills.

Then Wednesday afternoon, Senator Donna Nesselbush, D-Pawtucket, suddenly announced a compromise with the “best parts” of her bill and the bill sponsored by Narragansett Representative Carol Hagan McEntee.

The legislators didn’t waste time. Within two hours, the compromise legislation flew through the Senate Judiciary Committee, unanimously passed the Senate to applause, and then sailed through the House, 70 to 1. (Representative Brian C. Newberry, R-North Smithfield, was the only nay.)

The governor said Wednesday evening that she intended to sign it into law.

Catholic Church lobbying costs spiked in Pa. as statute of limitations debate raged

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Catholic Church Lobbying by State, 2011-2018
Article Title

Catholic Church lobbying costs spiked in Pa. as statute of limitations debate raged

Link to Article:           https://www.pennlive.com/politics/2019/06/catholic-church-lobbying-costs-spiked-in-pa-as-statute-of-limitations-debate-raged.html

Source:  Penn Live

Author(s):  Laura Benshoff of PA Post

Date:  June 11, 2019 

Synopsis of / Excerpts from Article 

According to the article:  

The Catholic Church spent more on lobbying efforts in Pennsylvania than in seven other northeastern U.S. states combined, according to a recent report covering 2011-2018.

The analysis, called “Church Influencing State: How the Catholic Church Spent Millions Against Survivors of Clergy Abuse,” draws a connection between lobbying expenditures and inaction on proposals that give victims of sexual abuse more chances to sue.   

The lawfirms behind the report — Williams Cedar, Seeger Weiss LLP, Abraham Watkins, and the Simpson Tuegel Law Firm — represent a total of more than 300 survivors of sexual abuse across the country.

Under Pennsylvania’s reporting requirements, lobbyists don’t have to link their work to specific legislation, just broad topics.

Data available through the Pennsylvania Department of State lobbying directory, though, shows an uptick in Catholic Church lobbying in 2017 and 2018, years that saw heated debate over proposals to reduce statute of limitations protections for alleged abusers.

Out of $10.6 million spent in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic during the time period reviewed, church officials laid out more than half in Pennsylvania, according to numbers the report authors pulled from public disclosure reports.

State totals 2011 – 2018

  • Pennsylvania – $5,322,579
  • New York – $2,912,772
  • Connecticut – $875,261
  • New Jersey – $633,458
  • Massachusetts – $537,551
  • New Hampshire – $134,345
  • Maine – $124,260
  • Rhode Island – $61,961

A year-by-year breakdown of spending by the Pennsylvania Catholic Conference, the Church’s advocacy arm, shows peaks in 2012, 2017 and 2018, topping $700,000 each of those years.

In other states, such as New York, the report draws a clearer connection between lobbying and statute of limitations legislation: “The Church spent nearly $3 million on lobbying in New York, with 80 percent of that spending – $2,329,071 – going to a Church-sponsored policy arm called the Catholic Conference Policy Group, Inc.” That group has “the sole mission of lobbying on ‘statute of limitations, legislative issues, and liability issues,’” according to the report.

State rep. Mark Rozzi, (D-Berks), himself a survivor of priest abuse, said he has seen how these funds flow firsthand. After  the House of Representatives passed a victim-friendly bill in 2016 , he says the effort to quash it in the Senate was swift.

“The Catholic Conference hired 39 lobbyists to work 50 senators and made sure our bill failed,” he said. 

Catholic Church Spent Millions Fighting Laws That Help Sexual Abuse Victims: Report

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Catholic Church spent $10M lobbying against best interests of victims of priest sex abuse
Article Title

Catholic Church Spent Millions Fighting Laws That Help Sexual Abuse Victims: Report

Link to Article:       https://www.huffpost.com/entry/catholic-church-lobbying-sexual-abuse-reform_n_5cf93a92e4b0e63eda9726a1?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAC0uYePiGD427yc1MrC_ktDwDLWO3qDIZfbw_ygvt0v7eHeSdWyNEEa1f6EBr-GcKUgPN42xxMjriqCae-lFWts_J8kHu7O3mdFQYbyEtBSxkFA8_xAaocEt9r9CQ_YuncV6qDqGfcNuYDHK7vduJ65-1wT9s53XN3EW4cxBJFmP   

Source:  Huffington Post

Author(s):  Carol Kuruvilla

Date:  June 07, 2019 

Synopsis of / Excerpts from Article 

According to the article:  

A new study says that the church poured at least $10.6 million into lobbying efforts in eight Northeastern states.

The Catholic Church has spent at least $10.6 million lobbying against legislation that gives sexual abuse victims more time to seek justice in courts ― and that’s in the Northeast alone, according to a new report.

Church funds have gone toward attempts to oppose statute-of-limitations reform in Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island between 2011 and 2018, the report released by four law firms on Tuesday suggested.

The law firms ― Williams Cedar, Seeger Weiss, Abraham Watkins, and Simpson Tuegel ― have collectively represented  more than 300 survivors of clerical sexual abuse across the country. They  obtained the data about the church’s lobbying efforts from public filings.

Gerald Williams, a partner at Williams Cedar, said the church’s lobbying contradict its promises to prioritize victims and take accountability for clerical sexual abuse. 

“We’ve heard a lot about the church’s desire to be accountable and turn over a new leaf,” Williams told CBS.  “But when we turn to the form where we can most help people and where we can get the most justice — the courts of justice — the church has been there blocking their efforts.”

Of the eight states studied, the largest amount of lobbying money ― $5.3 million ― appears to have been spent in Pennsylvania. Last August, Pennsylvania’s attorney general, Josh Shapiro, released the results of a  two-year grand jury investigation into sexual abuse and cover-up in six Catholic dioceses in the state. The investigation identified over 1,000 victims and 301 “predator priests,” and jurors recommended changes to the state’s statute of limitations.

Shapiro  told NBC News that he believes the church’s “extensive lobbying” in his state shows that it cannot be trusted to police itself. “It’s reprehensible that the church continues to spend significant sums of money fighting these reforms, instead of protecting and supporting the victims of clergy sexual abuse,” he said.

The Pennsylvania Catholic Conference, the lobbying arm for bishops in that state, told HuffPost that it has not reviewed the law firms’ report. 

Marci Hamilton, CEO of the advocacy organization Child USA, laughed when HuffPost informed her of Poust’s claim that New York’s Catholic bishops have long supported statute-of-limitations reform.

As for the law firms’ report, Hamilton said that, if anything, it likely undercounts the amount of money the Catholic Church has spent on lobbying in Northeastern states.

Catholic dioceses have also bought insurance coverage against child sexual abuse claims. As a result, the insurance industry has also invested heavily in blocking statute-of-limitations reform, Hamilton said. 

“The report is helpful, but it’s just scratching the surface of the might of the lobbying efforts against victims,” she said. 

CHURCH INFLUENCING STATE: How the Catholic Church Spent Millions Against Survivors of Clergy Abuse

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Catholic Church Lobbying — Harrisburg’s Dirty Little Secret (Image courtesy of Danny Huizinga via Flickr)
Report Title

CHURCH INFLUENCING STATE: How the Catholic Church Spent Millions Against Survivors of Clergy Abuse

Link to Report:      https://www.williamscedar.com/files/2019/06/ChurchInfluencingStateCatholic.pdf  

Source:  Commissioned by law firms — Seeger Weiss LLP, Williams Cedar LLC, Abraham Watkins, and the Simpson Tuegel Law Firm 

Author(s):  Law firms listed above

Date:  June 5, 2019 

Synopsis of / Excerpts from Article 

According to the report:  

The Catholic Church has spent more than $10,602,000 on lobbying in eight Northeastern U.S. states since 2011, with a considerable amount aimed at thwarting legislation that would extend the statutes of limitations for survivors of clergy sexual abuse. The Church’s lobbying activities stand in stark contrast to its public statements about providing healing and closure to survivors.

“The pain of the victims and their families is also our pain, and so it is urgent that we once more reaffirm our commitment to ensure the protection of minors and of vulnerable adults.”   – Pope Francis, August 20, 2018

Link to report by law firms of Williams Cedar, Seeger Weiss LLP, Abraham Watkins, and the Simpson Tuegel Law Firm:  CHURCH INFLUENCING STATE 

Catholic Church Spent $10.6M Lobbying in Northeast States, Focused on Thwarting Legislation that Would Aid Clergy Abuse Survivors

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Catholic Church Lobbying in the Northeast
Press Release Title

Catholic Church Spent $10.6M Lobbying in Northeast States, Focused on Thwarting Legislation that Would Aid Clergy Abuse Survivors

Link to Press Release:      https://www.williamscedar.com/files/2019/06/Lobbying-Report-Release-6.4.19.pdf

Source:  Commissioned by law firms — Seeger Weiss LLP, Williams Cedar LLC, Abraham Watkins, and the Simpson Tuegel Law Firm

Author(s):  Law firms listed above

Date:  June 4, 2019 

Synopsis of / Excerpts from Article 

According to the report:  

Church has long fought legislative bills that would extend statutes of limitations, in stark
contrast to its public statements about providing abuse survivors healing and closure

A new report released today finds the Catholic Church spent more than $10.6 million on lobbying in eight northeast states since 2011, with a focus on defeating legislation that would extend statutes of limitations for survivors of clergy sexual abuse to seek criminal or civil charges against their abusers.

The report, “CHURCH INFLUENCING STATE: How the Catholic Church Spent Millions Against Survivors of Clergy Abuse,” was commissioned by Seeger Weiss LLP, Williams Cedar LLC, Abraham Watkins and the Simpson Tuegel Law Firm and is believed to be the most comprehensive analysis of the Church’s campaign to fight statute of limitations legislation. The northeast United States has been the epicenter of the push to extend statutes of limitations for survivors of sex abuse, and the report focuses on the Church’s lobbying activities in Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York,
Pennsylvania and Rhode Island.

For example, the report details how in New York, the Church spent nearly $3 million to thwart efforts to provide justice to New York survivors of clergy sex abuse. Beginning in 2011, the Church’s lobbying arm, called the Catholic Conference Policy Group, Inc., had the sole mission of lobbying on “statute of limitations, legislative issues, and liability issues.” Despite the Church’s war chest and lobbying muscle, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo in February signed the Child Victims Act into law and New Jersey followed
suit with a similar law earlier this month.

The Catholic Church has been more successful in Pennsylvania, where it has spent over $5 million on lobbying efforts. A grand jury report was released in 2018 that detailed the evidence of more than 300 priests credibly accused of sexually abusing more than 1,000 child victims in the state.

“This report lays out what we have known all along – that the Catholic Church refuses to take responsibility for the decades of abuse that took place knowingly under its watch,” said Stephen A. Weiss, founding partner of Seeger Weiss LLP. “All survivors should have access to justice and the opportunity to demand reforms from the Church and any other institution that has allowed such insidious abuse.”

“Statute of limitations reforms give survivors more time to obtain some measure of closure on the atrocities committed against them,” said Gerald J. Williams, partner and co-founder of Williams Cedar LLC. “The Church has yet to implement meaningful reforms, and by working to prevent these laws from passing, the Church is clearly demonstrating that it does not stand with survivors.”

As part of this important trend, more than 20 other states across the country are also considering similar legislation which would benefit survivors of sexual abuse. Michelle Simpson Tuegel, a Dallas-based attorney who also serves Of Counsel to Seeger Weiss LLP in New York and New Jersey, has spearheaded advocacy efforts in Texas on a bill that would extend the statute of limitations from 15 to 30 years; it has passed the Senate and House, and awaits the Governor’s signature. Tuegel, along with Houston-based
attorney Mo Aziz, represents several Olympic and National Team gymnasts abused by Larry Nassar, and in partnership with Seeger Weiss LLP and Williams Cedar LLC represents more than 300 sex abuse survivors nationwide. “Powerful institutions like the Catholic Church have been relentless in fighting these legislative proposals, and for too long were successful. However, legislators are realizing that these laws are an important tool to hold them accountable and give survivors the voice they deserve,” said Tuegel.

###

Are California Catholic dioceses using victim compensation fund to prevent future lawsuits?

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California dioceses launch compensation program in effort to forestall wave of lawsuits expected when statute of limitations is reformed.
Article Title

Are California Catholic dioceses using victim compensation fund to prevent future lawsuits?

Link to Article:      https://www.abc10.com/article/news/local/abc10-originals/are-california-catholic-dioceses-using-victim-compensation-fund-to-prevent-future-lawsuits/103-ae56ebb4-3609-4577-bff4-0de9cb94cbaa

Source:  ABC 10 Sacramento CA

Author(s):  Lilia Luciano

Date:  May 27, 2019 

Synopsis of / Excerpts from Article 

According to the article:  

In California, victims of childhood sexual abuse have until they are 26 years old to file lawsuit damages, a statute of limitations that Assemblywoman Lorena González hopes to extend until those victims are 40 years old. 

Introduced by González, AB 218 seeks to significantly extend the statute of limitations for victims of childhood sexual abuse.

The bill is exactly the same as the one González (D-San Diego) introduced last year, which passed, but was killed when vetoed by Gov. Jerry Brown. In 2013 Brown also vetoed a Senate bill that sought to eliminate the statute of limitation altogether.

With a new Governor in the state, supporters of AB 218 are hopeful that it will pass and be signed into law by Gov. Gavin Newsom.

The timing of the bill’s passing could coincide with the recent announcement by the Sacramento Catholic Diocese that it will participate in the creation of an Independent Victim Compensation Program for survivors of sexual abuse by clergy. 

The fund will be administered by the Washington D.C. based Feinberg Law Firm, which has handled similar programs in New York, Pennsylvania, and Colorado. 

In the announcement, the Diocese of Sacramento stated “through their efforts, more than 1,200 victims/survivors have received compensation in New York alone.” 

The Sacramento diocese released the names of 46 clergymen credibly accused of abusing 130 victims, but Joe George, the leading attorney in Sacramento representing victims of clergy abuse said about the list, “I think games were played with numbers of victims.” 

He added that the Church made it seem like the “overwhelming majority of the number of victims were as a result of three or four Mexican-American and Hispanic perpetrators.”

The remaining clergy appear to have had between one and two victims, which George said “is incomprehensible to me and defies scientific evidence, psychiatric evidence, and psychological evidence that sexual deviants who are predators would be in a position with access to children for 30 years and only abuse one or two or three kids, when we know they are serial recidivists so the numbers are far, far, far greater.”

Mike Reck, an attorney who has represented victims that participated in similar programs in other states, said that although the program might be a good fit for some victims, “it’s a very calculated and very shrewd act on behalf of church officials to their benefit.” 

He said victim advocates are concerned that “survivors who don’t know about their rights, who don’t know about the potential change in the statute of limitation may forever give up those rights before they know they’re gonna have them.”

In a New York agreement for a similar fund ABC10 obtained, claimants who receive the funds agree to release “the Archdiocese of New York and all of its current or former bishops, priests or deacons, its parishes, schools and institutions, religious corporations,” etc.. from all future claims against it. 

Reck said the funds received through these kinds of settlements are “traditionally much lower than what survivors would be receiving through a court lawsuit.”

The bigger problem victim advocates see with these settlements is the lack of transparency and accountability that comes with them. 

David Clohessy, former national director of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) warned that these types of funds, “change the entire focus away from who committed the abuse, who concealed abuse onto how are we going to divvy up some money.” 

Reck said, “there is no transparency and no accountability that comes from this because it’s not subject to the same disclosures and the same oversight that court proceedings are.” 

He added, “there is no transparency as in who the claims were filed against, what they settled for or how the church failed those survivors back when they were children.”

He recommends victims to explore the program’s options and discuss with an attorney whether or not the fund is appropriate for them. 

Shame on Pennsylvania GOP as New Jersey, New York Dems deliver justice for abuse victims

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Statute-of-Limitations Reform, with Look-Back Window
Article Title

Shame on Pennsylvania GOP as New Jersey, New York Dems deliver justice for abuse victims

Link to Article:        https://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/manhattan/ny-paddack-notre-dame-cardinal-hayes-st-joseph-by-the-sea-allegations-20190702-rwb62iczzzgdhdunwtkcxhe7su-story.html

Source:  Philadelphia Inquirer

Author(s):  Maria Panaritis

Date:  May 15, 2019 

Synopsis of / Excerpts from Article 

According to the article:  

After a stunning change to New Jersey law that became official on Monday, and an equally stunning change to New York law in February, justice for sexual assault victims in Pennsylvania now is a second-tier matter, denied by politics and the poor luck of geography.

The divide is stark. It is absurd. And it is — make no mistake — entirely a product of Republican leadership of the House and Senate in Pennsylvania.

Were you raped as a child by a Pennsylvania priest or schoolteacher? If you want justice, then you had better hope it happened in New Jersey or New York. Only those states, under groundbreaking laws, allow civil action for abuse that happened years ago. 

If, however, you were violated by a Pennsylvania priest or teacher somewhere between Erie and Philly, your only legal option is to shut up and move on. The men who control the House and Senate have chosen to bow to bishops and insurance underwriters rather than stand for the children damaged for life by abusers. 

It was not magic that made New Jersey and New York care about victims. It was voters — and Democrats running the show. 

Republican leaders in Pennsylvania have not held a single hearing in 15 years to hear from abuse victims. And their leader now, Senate President Pro Tempore Joe Scarnati, unapologetically defeated a statute of limitations bill late in Octoberthat would have done much of what New York and New Jersey are now allowing.

Democratic voters made Scarnati’s party pay in November. The GOP majority in both chambers is now vulnerable enough that Democrats may have a chance at flipping control in 2020, unless its gerrymandering holds.

Catholic Church lobbying in Pa. spiked after damaging investigations

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Penna. Catholic Conference lobbying expenditures by year (York Dispatch)
Article Title

Catholic Church lobbying in Pa. spiked after damaging investigations

Link to Article:         https://www.yorkdispatch.com/story/news/politics/2019/04/17/catholic-church-lobbying-pa-spiked-after-damaging-investigations/3477251002/

Source:  York Dispatch

Author(s):  Logan Hullinger

Date:  April 21, 2019 

Synopsis of / Excerpts from Article 

According to the article:  

The Catholic Church has spent millions influencing Pennsylvania politics, but the funds perhaps have been the most useful amid reports uncovering widespread child sexual abuse and attempts to cover it up.

That money is again coming into play as two bills raising the statute of limitations on child sexual crimes and opening a two-year retroactive window for victims to file lawsuits once again head to the state Senate.

“(The expenditures) speak to the very issue of protecting their institutional reputation, which is one of the significant causes of this sex abuse crisis to begin with,” said Zach Hiner, executive director of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests.

There have been three grand jury investigations in the past decade that have revealed thousands of child sexual abuse cases by Pennsylvanian Catholic priests and attempts to hide them. All of them were welcomed by significant increases in spending on lobbying by the church.

The Pennsylvania Catholic Conference (PCC), the lobbying arm for the church in Pennsylvania, has spent $7.2 million in lobbying since 2007, according to state Department of State data.

Lobbying expenditures increased from $529,000 to $786,000 following the release of the 2011 Philadelphia grand jury report, the largest increase in the conference’s history and the most it ever spent in a year.

Beginning in 2016, expenditures  increased for three years in a row for the first time. That year, the state Attorney General’s six-diocese investigation began and a separate investigation into the Roman Catholic Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown concluded.