Category: Priest Abuse

The Roman Catholic Bishop of Vermont threatened to sue a catholic diocese in Indiana over sexual abuse by a priest, according to a report in The Burlington Free Press.

The story reports that Bishop Salvatore Matano threatened to sue Indiana’s Fort Wayne-South Bend diocese for failing to disclose information about prior sexual misconduct by Rev. Edward Paquette. The Diocese of Vermont subsequently paid $965,000.00 to a man that Paquette sexually abused in Vermont.

According to church documents filed with the court, the diocese had evidence that Paquette had molested boys in Massachusetts and then Indiana before being hired by the Vermont diocese in 1972.

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The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Dublin circulated legal advice to every bishop in Ireland to help the dioceses negotiate insurance policies to protect them from child sex abuse claims.

The Irish paper, Independent has reported:

The legal advice, obtained on behalf of Cardinal Connell’s predecessor Archbishop Kevin McNamara, formed the basis for a dedicated clerical sex abuse insurance policy. Within two years, all dioceses in Ireland had insured themselves against abuse claims, despite later Church claims that they had no knowledge of the fact of, or extent of, errant priests.

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A fund to pay for sexual abuse counselling for male survivors of abuse by priests has been doubled.

The Roman Catholic Diocese of London has increased funding for it’s Silence to Hope project from $30,000.00 to $60,000.00.

The London Free Press reported that:

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Seven men who claim they were sexually abused by priests in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Sault Ste. Marie have filed lawsuits claiming millions of dollars in compensation.

The lawsuits name six priests – Rene Hebert, Magnus J. Fedy, Victor Killoran, Gerald Roy, Lawrence Paquette and John Fisher – of allegations of sexual misconduct. Roy is the only priest still alive.

You can read more about the claims here.

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