The Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany on Wednesday proposed mediated financial settlements for survivors of clergy sex abuse as an alternative to court battles or the diocese declaring bankruptcy, the Albany Daily Gazette reported. The diocese is facing a potentially huge cost from the more than 400 claims pending against it in court, both in legal bills and judgments. In an open letter, it said mediation would result in a more equitable distribution of the finite pot of funds it has available for the purpose. But a law firm representing two dozen people who claim to have been molested by Albany Diocese clergy decades ago called it a bogus and cynical maneuver to avoid transparency and accountability. Three years ago in New York, the long-running clergy pedophilia scandal took a sharp turn from a shocking revelation about one of society’s most respected institutions to a major financial threat: The state Child Victims Act briefly allowed civil lawsuits for decades-old incidents that had been — and once again are — far beyond the normal statute of limitations for a civil lawsuit. Four of New York State’s eight Catholic dioceses — Buffalo, Rochester, Rockville Center and Syracuse — subsequently filed for bankruptcy under the financial weight of potential legal settlements or trial verdicts.
