DENY SECRECY INVOLVED

Diocese's help to abuse victim called effort to ease distress

The Albany Diocese gave a victim of clergy sexual abuse $227,000 last year because "he needed it and deserved it," Rev. Kenneth J. Doyle, diocesan chancellor for communications, told The Evangelist this week.

Father Doyle denied as "absolutely untrue" the victim's claim in a newspaper article that the money was part of a confidentiality agreement and said that the sum "came with no conditions at all, and that was made clear to the man."

The victim claimed, in an interview in the Jan. 19 issue of The New York Times, that the Diocese "was trying to keep my mouth shut."

The name of the victim, who was described in the Times article only as a 39-year-old man, was not revealed. He told The Times that he was abused in the 1970s by a priest who has since been removed from ministry and that he (the victim) had settled that case for $150,000 in 1994.

In April 2002, Bishop Howard J. Hubbard announced that confidentiality agreements would no longer be part of the Diocese's approach to aiding victims of clergy sex abuse in order to avoid any appearance of covering up abuse cases. He was also concerned that such agreements might prevent victims from obtaining the therapeutic benefit of coming forward to tell their story.

When the man in question approached the Diocese again in 2002, he was assisted once more because his circumstances had worsened, and he and his family were facing eviction, said Father Doyle. The new diocesan policy of no confidentiality agreement was followed, he added.

Regarding public announcement by the Diocese of assistance given to victims of abuse, Father Doyle said: "I don't believe that it is right to announce the specific amount each separate time a victim is helped because that would require explaining why the victim's psychological, emotional and family situation warranted that assistance. Most victims don't want to relive their horror by hearing their story of abuse broadcast widely. So, for us, to do that might well bring additional anguish to a person already badly harmed. Instead, we intend to announce annually the total assistance given to victims of sexual abuse over the previous 12 months."

The last announcement of a total was made in June 2002.

Father Doyle called it "disappointing and frustrating" to help a victim "in very real distress" and then have that person distort what was happening by claiming the Diocese was seeking to silence him.

"He was harmed by the abuse," the priest continued, "and the Church's role is to help anyone who is in a vulnerable position. That is precisely what the Diocese was seeking to do in this situation."

The victim told The Times that other priests had abused him. Father Doyle said that those charges are being looked into but that no supporting evidence has yet been found.

The money paid to the victim came from two sources. Some of it was from an escrow account maintained by the Diocese's attorneys; liability payments are routinely made from that account.

"That account, which comes from our diocesan insurance fund, pays not only abuse victims but also other liability claims, such as accidents on Church property," Father Doyle explained.

Another portion of the payment was made initially by diocesan Catholic Charities "because the family's need for housing was immediate and money was quickly available from Charities," he said. Those funds were reimbursed within 48 hours from the insurance account.

Charities was involved because the needs of abuse victims were often assessed by that office until the Diocese recently appointed a victims' assistance coordinator.

The victim is represented by an attorney who has filed three suits in recent months against diocesan personnel over the handling of claims of sexual abuse.

Father Doyle said those suits "are frivolous and largely fictitious."