Child & Youth Protection

Just over three years to the date after filing for Chapter 11 protection under the crush of nearly 440 Child Victims Act claims, the Diocese of Albany reached a $148 million settlement agreement with the survivors of sexual abuse by diocesan priests and others on March 27.

“Our research shows that Cardinal Karol Wojtyla did not transfer priests from parish to parish when he learned of their criminal activities, but he took quick action, and some of his decisions were above-standard for the time,” the March 13 report’s lead said.

In a new pastoral message released March 11, Detroit Archbishop Edward J. Weisenburger expressed “heartfelt sorrow for the evil of abuse and the profound suffering it has caused.”

A Washington state appeals court has ruled that the state’s attorney general can subpoena religious organizations — including the Archdiocese of Seattle — for records related to alleged sexual abuse, as part of determining whether charitable funds were used to cover up such actions.

Rhode Island’s attorney general has published a 284-page report on sexual abuse in the Diocese of Providence, capping a six-year investigation that began in 2019 through a voluntary agreement with the diocese to survey records stretching back to 1950.