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:
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.