I wonder how much the Archdiocese of Chicago has paid out so far in these settlements. Remember folks, it’s your money they are spending.
The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago has agreed to a $3.2 million settlement with a man abused by a priest when he was a student at a parish school, lawyers for the victim said Tuesday.
The priest, Daniel McCormack, pleaded guilty in 2007 to abusing five boys and was sentenced to five years in prison.
The settlement involved one of the five victims, who was abused between the ages of 10 and 12 while a student at a parish school. He is now 18, according to his attorney, William Martin.
“It’s a sad case all around but we’re happy we can settle it and get some closure for him and some acknowledgment of the abuse he suffered and the pain he suffered,” Martin said. “He can get on with his life.”
Child abuse controversies have rocked the Catholic Church in many countries in the last decade, and the church in the United States has paid out some $2 billion in settlements, bankrupting a handful of dioceses.
Martin said the Chicago archdiocese and Cardinal Francis George had failed to remove McCormack from access to children although they had knowledge that the priest had sexually abused minors.
Martin said his firm, Hilfman & Martin, and the firm of Abels & Annes, have two more pending cases against the archdiocese involving McCormack, who has since been removed from ministry.
The archdiocese said in a statement it does not comment on specific details of clergy misconduct cases.
“The Archdiocese affirms its long-standing practice of reaching out to all victims of misconduct by clergy to resolve their claims in a just, compassionate and respectful way, and continues to work for the healing of all those affected by the tragedy of child and adolescent sexual abuse,” it said.
Martin said McCormack served 2-1/2 years of his sentence. When he came up for parole, the Cook County State’s Attorney and the Illinois Attorney General asked the court to have him committed, arguing he remained a threat. He is now in a treatment facility, but is contesting it, Martin said.
Barbara Meyer of SNAP Chicago, a support group for clergy abuse victims, said in a statement that SNAP was grateful McCormack was “not walking the streets.”
“No amount of money will restore the innocence that McCormack stole from this brave victim,” Meyer said. SNAP stands for Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests.
Complete Article HERE!