146 raped victims of JP2 Army settle for $77 Million in WILMINGTON, Delaware

As Benedict XVI announces that John Paul II will be beatified on May 1, more raped victims of JP2 Army are coming out across Europe and now 146 victims settled in Delaware after the diocese declared bankruptcy in 2009. Now that it has reached this settlement, it is stopping its bankruptcy claims.

On Feb 1, Benedict XVI the Liar striked again with his pathological lies and ordered the Vatican to reject an American lawsuit by Terry Kohut who was raped with other 200 deaf boys by a rapist-priest, see details in our sister weblog Benedict XVI: God's Rottweiler http://pope-ratz.blogspot.com/2011/02/benedict-xvi-liar-strikes-again-as.html

"No mandate from the Times"... oh really, why don't you tell that to the Boston Globe who ousted Cardinal Bernard Law in Boston http://pope-ratz.blogspot.com/2011/01/no-mandate-from-times-oh-really-why.html

See the John Paul II Millstone
http://jp2m.blogspot.com/

U.S. diocese agrees to $77 million abuse settlement

Victims - Attackers - Responsible Leaders

Pearl Harbor - 3,000 victims - 170 planes - Admiral Yamamoto

WTC & 9/11 attacks - 5,000 victims - 19 Muslims - Osama bin Laden

USA Priest Pedophilia - 12,000 victims - 6,000 rapists-priests - John Paul II, Benedict XVI & Opus Dei (the Vatican Trinity: Opus Dei controlled the 26+ years papacy of JP2)


WILMINGTON (DE)
Reuters
By Tom Hals

WILMINGTON, Delaware (Reuters) - A Roman Catholic diocese in Delaware agreed to settle 142 claims of sexual abuse by priests for $77 million, a spokesman for the diocese said Thursday.

The settlement by the Wilmington diocese is roughly $3 million more than the diocese proposed in mid-January, when it said payouts would likely range from $75,000 to $3 million per victim, depending on the severity of the alleged abuse.

The diocese filed for bankruptcy in 2009 due to mounting sex abuse claims dating as far back as the 1950s.

In the United States, Roman Catholic archdioceses have collectively paid some $2 billion in settlements to victims since the priest sex scandals first erupted in Boston nearly a decade ago.


Diocese reaches settlement with 146 abuse vicitms

WILMINGTON (DE)
Newsworks
[with video]
February 3, 2011
By Mark Eichmann

After what are being described as "marathon negotiations" between attorneys for the victims and the Diocese of Wilmington, the church has agreed to settle the cases for $77 million.

The settlement is still pending the approval of U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Christopher Sontchi. The agreement sets up a trust in the amount of $77,425,000 which will be divided among the victims.

In addition to the money, the Catholic Diocese of Wilmington has also agreed to open its secret archives and establish procedures to prevent future child abuse. Attorney Thomas Neuberger, who was co-counsel for 99 abuse survivors says it's been a long fight. "Today we declare victory after our seven year war. The secret archives are open. The truth of the long cover up is now out in public," Neuberger said.

That archive collection includes items that have been hidden from public view since the Diocese was founded in 1868. Attorney Thomas Crumplar says the archives consists of thousands of documents. "It includes the Bishop's diary. Many things we've never seen. We may have to get some Latin scholars because, supposedly we learned in discovery, that when they had things they didn't want to talk about, they wrote it in Latin so that people couldn't see it."


SNAP Press Statement

For immediate release: Wednesday, February 2, 2011

DE Catholic bankruptcy ends: SNAP responds

Statement by Joelle Casteix of Newport Beach CA, western regional director of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (949 322 7434, jcasteix@gmail.com)

This settlement has happened for one reason: because of the courage and persistence of the wounded but compassionate men and women who were once innocent and trusting children but were betrayed twice - once by Catholic clergy and again by the Catholic hierarchy.

These brave, determined victims are transforming their horrific pain into positive change. They are turning their private source of shame into a public force for prevention, and Delaware children will be safer because of them.

Credit should be given, not to church officials, but to these once fragile but now incredibly resilient men and women who had the strength to speak up, the wisdom to take legal action, and the patience to endure a long legal process.

Citizens of Delaware should be grateful to them. If not for their courage, perhaps dozens of dangerous child molesters would still be unknown to the public and some perhaps even in active ministry today. Countless children are safer now, thanks to the selfless actions of these survivors and their loved ones.

Our understanding is that victims fought long and hard for very tangible, proven abuse prevention steps in this settlement. We applaud them for that. It is clear that Catholic officials will not or cannot reform themselves, and that even now, bishops often act recklessly, deceitfully and secretively in abuse cases. Forcing them to take specific moves to stop future clergy sex crimes and cover-ups is an enormous achievement.

The justice and reforms achieved by this settlement are also due to the wisdom of lawmakers who passed the Delaware Child Victims' Act, which gave crime victims the chance to expose wrongdoing through the civil justice system. This opportunity led and will lead to the disclosure of long-buried church cover ups and enable parents, parishioners and the public to learn about child predators whose identities had long been kept secret by callous church officials.

It is important that we all recognized that this agreement is no sign that Delaware Catholic officials have "reformed." Only the most foolish and naive could even entertain this notion. It's a sign of what we have maintained all along: that Delaware’s church hierarchy is scared of being deposed under oath, taking the witness stand, and having to finally disclose how much they knew about yet how little they did about terribly dangerous serial sex offenders.

It is also not the end for these hurting victims, even if it means long-overdue compensation for them. Nothing can give them back their childhoods and their trust and their self-esteem and the years of health and productivity that have been stolen from them, first by shrewd child molesters, then by complicit church officials. Weeks or months from now, if an agreement is reached, please do not speak to these victims about closure or "moving on" or "putting all this behind you. . ." That, sadly, will never happen. These brave men and women have made progress in their healing, and will no doubt make more progress. But victims of overwhelming childhood trauma never have the luxury of "putting it all behind them." So let's be careful about in advertently inflating hopes that may only be dashed later.

The settlement will finally enable still-suffering victims to get the in-patient drug rehab or alcohol treatment or intense therapy some have desperately needed for years. But it will not suddenly, magically mean the end of addictions, nightmares, sleeplessness, isolation and depression that so many of them are still struggling with, even decades after they were first sodomized and raped. Let's not kid ourselves. Legal progress doesn't guarantee personal healing.

(SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, is the world’s oldest and largest support group for clergy abuse victims. We’ve been around for 22 years and have more than 10,000 members. Despite the word “priest” in our title, we have members who were molested by religious figures of all denominations, including nuns, rabbis, bishops, and Protestant ministers. Our website is SNAPnetwork.org)

Contact - David Clohessy (314-566-9790 cell, SNAPclohessy@aol.com), Barbara Blaine (312-399-4747, SNAPblaine@gmail.com), Peter Isely (414-429-7259, peterisely@yahoo.com), Barbara Dorris (314-862-7688 home, 314-503-0003 cell, SNAPdorris@gmail.com)