23 Jan Diocese of Scranton To Compensate Abuse Victims

The Diocese of Scranton Tuesday launched its Independent Survivors Compensation Program, an independent program designed to compensate survivors of childhood sexual abuse. Participation by survivors is entirely voluntary and the program is run completely independent of the Diocese.  The move comes in response to the Pennsylvania Attorney General August grand jury report documenting seven decades of child sexual abuse in the Keystone State’s Roman Catholic churches. The grand jury alleged that church leaders, the Diocese of Scranton among them, covered up the scope and frequency of these crimes to protect abusers and the church’s reputation.

“Our first priorities are to provide support for survivors of child sexual abuse and to take every step necessary to eradicate abuse from the Church altogether,” said the Most Rev. Joseph C. Bambera, Bishop of Scranton. “This program helps. While no financial compensation can change the past, it is my hope that this program will help survivors in their healing and recovery process.”

The diocese’s program includes all victims, whether the abuser was a priest from the Diocese of Scranton, from a religious order, or was a lay employee of the diocese.

“Ken and I know how important it is to assist victims who have endured a personal tragedy,” said Camille Biros, who along with Ken Feinberg will administer the program. “We have worked with survivors of sexual abuse and other tragedies and we have developed a system that operates with one person in mind – the victim. Often, survivors are most concerned with having their abuse acknowledged by the Church so they can begin to heal, and this compensation program will help them do just that.”

Program administrators will reach out directly to those who have previously reported a claim of abuse to the Diocese of Scranton. Survivors who have not yet reported past abuse are also eligible to participate and can request a claim form online after reporting the abuse in writing to the District Attorney’s Office. New claims must be registered with the program by July 22, 2019, while existing claims can be submitted until September 30, 2019. Administrators will process claims in the order in which they are received, and payments will be made on a rolling basis as claims are processed.

Parish and school assets, as well as contributions and bequests from parishioners and donations to the Diocesan Annual Appeal will not be used to fund the program. Rather, the program will be funded by existing Diocesan assets and available reserves. If necessary, the diocese will sell assets and borrow money.