Fresno Bishop Joseph V. Brennan promised a list. Did he think we forgot? Now that my white paper on the sexual abuse of women in the Catholic Church is complete—and getting a great response—I am beginning work on a complete analysis of California’s Catholic dioceses, sexual abuse, and cover-up. I thought I would start with…Continue reading Diocese of Fresno promised us a list of accused priests. Where is it?
What if the cornerstone of our conventional wisdom about the victims of the Catholic Church and clergy sex abuse crisis was wrong? What if, in a statistically viable sample of survivors of abuse in the Catholic Church, 50% of respondents were female? What if you also knew that this result is almost statically impossible to…Continue reading What if women comprised 50% of sex abuse victims in the Catholic Church?
Eleven priests who have not appeared on any lists of accused clerics—either court documents, diocese lists, or press reports—have been named as alleged predators in new lawsuits filed against the Catholic Archdiocese of New York this week. The 11 were named in a press release today, which also announced 59 new lawsuits. The priests publicly…Continue reading Re-opening of NY courts exposes 11 newly accused clerics
Why Independent Compensation Programs are a Sham, Reason 3,298 It was a throwaway quote by Orange Bishop Kevin Vann that gave him away. Yesterday, six dioceses across the state of California launched what they are calling the Independent Compensation Program (ICP) for Victim-Survivors of Sexual Abuse of Minors by Priests. The programs, modeled after similar…Continue reading Orange Bishop Kevin Vann needs a History Lesson, or
I get SO MANY emails asking for help in this arena. Start here. You can always email me for suggestions and guidance, too. And no “helpful hints” on video production, please. I can’t take any more. My 13-year-old son is already overloading me how much improvement I need. Ugh. I told him that my videos…Continue reading Don’t go it alone: How to find a civil attorney for your child sex abuse case
In September, a representative for bishops in six California dioceses will begin mailing out information packages to survivors of clergy sex abuse. These packets will discuss a church-run compensation program for years of shame, suffering and cover-up perpetrated by priests and bishops across the state. I am not a fan of these programs at all.…Continue reading California Bishops to Start Passing Out Cash to Victims: Why Now?
Yesterday, the Diocese of San Diego issued a press release, calling an “all hands on deck” meeting about child sexual abuse. At the meeting, which is scheduled for Tuesday, August 13, “All diocesan employees will hear about the steps the diocese is taking to protect children and young people, and on the moral and legal…Continue reading The Diocese of San Diego: The Land of Smoke and Mirrors
Yesterday, six of California’s Catholic bishops announced an independent compensation program for survivors of clergy sexual abuse. I wrote an extensive series on these programs a while back. While the some of the details are different, the facts about these programs remain the same: This plan is not about helping survivors. This is about the…Continue reading Independent compensation programs hit California
The Independent Reconciliation and Compensation Plan is not perfect. But because of it, last week, victims were able to expose two, decades-long hidden priest perpetrators. One of the predators—Casper Wolf—taught in a Bronx high school for 27 years. The Archdiocese knew about allegations entire time. And said NOTHING. If you were sexually abused by a…Continue reading Victims Deadline – Archdiocese of New York – November 1, 2017
The Catholic Diocese of Rockville Center, NY has announced an Independent Reconciliation and Compensation Plan. These plans, administered by Ken Feinberg and funded by the individual dioceses, aim to compensate victims for abuse. You can read more about them in my four-part series here. Victims of sexual abuse in the Long Island Catholic diocese of…Continue reading The next domino falls: Rockville Center NY
To register, or not to register? That is the question. For those of you just catching up, the IRCPs, or the Independent Reconciliation and Compensation Programs, are programs for certain survivors of sexual abuse in the Archdiocese of New York and the Diocese of Brooklyn. If victims qualify, they may get financial compensation. But the…Continue reading The Ins and Outs of the IRCP Part 4: Hamlet’s Dilemma
Sorry for the gap since Part 2. I was on vacation. Then I ended up on the news. He’s been called The Master of Disasters, a brand unto himself, and the Compensation Czar. Kenneth Feinberg (pictured above), the man who, with his assistant Camille Biros (read this recent New York Times article about her),…Continue reading The Ins and Outs of the IRCP Part 3: Who is Kenneth Feinberg?
Part two of this series was originally going to be a little about IRCP plan administrator Ken Feinberg, but since the Diocese of Brooklyn has posted its official IRCP website (full of legalese), I thought I would go over some of the details here. * Brooklyn IRCP Bishop DiMarzio and the Diocese of Brooklyn…Continue reading The Ins and Outs of the IRCP Part 2: Phases and Deadlines
~PART ONE OF A MULTI-PART SERIES ON THE IRCP~ I had planned on talking about the Archdiocese of New York’s Independent Reconciliation and Compensation Program (IRCP) in this blog, but I wanted to wait until after the end of the current New York legislative session. My hope was that the plan would be rendered redundant—that…Continue reading The Ins and Outs of the IRCP: Is it a Hoax? Why Brooklyn?
