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http://www.boston.com/news/daily/23/church_suits.htm
Church to seek First Amendment protection from sex lawsuits; sell property
By Associated Press, 12/23/02
BOSTON -- The Boston Archdiocese, in a move it said would speed settlements with clergy sex abuse victims, asked a judge Monday to dismiss all such lawsuits on First Amendment grounds.
Church officials said the filing, which met a court imposed deadline, is intended to push their insurance carriers toward reaching financial settlements with victims.
"Failure to do this could very well result in the insurance companies walking away from us, saying that we have not exercised all of our avenues of defense," Bishop Richard G. Lennon, apostolic administrator of the archdiocese, said Sunday.
The motion argues that civil law does not apply to how religious organizations supervise their personnel.
If upheld by Superior Court Judge Constance Sweeney, who has made mostly pro-plaintiff decisions from the bench, more than 400 claims that could cost the church millions of dollars would be thrown out. Sweeney set Monday as the deadline for filing the motion.
"We have to (do this to) keep the insurance companies in the arena," said Lennon, appointed to temporarily head the archdiocese after the recent resignation of Cardinal Bernard F. Law. "We desperately need their money along with ours if we are to effect any kind of fair settlement."
A law firm advising the archdiocese has concluded that the church has at least $90 million available for a settlement, most of it through coverage provided by two insurance companies, Travelers and Kemper.
Lawyers for victims said the motion was expected -- and that they expect it will be rejected. But some differed on interpreting the church's intentions.
Roderick MacLeish Jr., a lawyer with Greenberg Taurig, which represents about half of the people with pending claims against the archdiocese, said the First Amendment argument already has been rejected by several judges in Massachusetts.
Attorney Mitchell Garabedian, who also represents alleged victims, says the archdiocese's record of honesty is poor.
"What the church does and what it says on many occasions has proven to be two different things," he said.
Lennon, in his first news conference last week, said he backs efforts to settle lawsuits accusing church leaders of turning a blind eye to claims that priests molested children.
Still, Lennon would not rule out sending the archdiocese into bankruptcy as the church struggles to find a way to resolve lawsuits that claim the church failed to protect children from sexually abusive priests. It was an option that was first considered by Law before he resigned on Dec. 13.
Lennon said he was hopeful the church could settle the lawsuits by selling some of its real estate holdings and by using insurance money.
Lennon said he has selected church properties for sale, and has directed church officials to put them on the market as soon as possible. However he has not said which properties will be sold.
Meanwhile, some of the protesters who gathered outside the Cathedral of the Holy Cross in Boston for nearly year, calling for Law to step down, said they planned to picket Bishop John B. McCormack in Manchester, N.H., next week.
McCormack, once a top lieutenant to Law in Boston, told parishioners at St. Joseph Cathedral in Manchester last week that he was haunted by his part in the church sex scandal, and questioned whether it could affect his future as the leader of the Manchester Diocese.
Church to seek First Amendment protection from sex lawsuits; sell property
By Associated Press, 12/23/02
BOSTON -- The Boston Archdiocese, in a move it said would speed settlements with clergy sex abuse victims, asked a judge Monday to dismiss all such lawsuits on First Amendment grounds.
Church officials said the filing, which met a court imposed deadline, is intended to push their insurance carriers toward reaching financial settlements with victims.
"Failure to do this could very well result in the insurance companies walking away from us, saying that we have not exercised all of our avenues of defense," Bishop Richard G. Lennon, apostolic administrator of the archdiocese, said Sunday.
The motion argues that civil law does not apply to how religious organizations supervise their personnel.
If upheld by Superior Court Judge Constance Sweeney, who has made mostly pro-plaintiff decisions from the bench, more than 400 claims that could cost the church millions of dollars would be thrown out. Sweeney set Monday as the deadline for filing the motion.
"We have to (do this to) keep the insurance companies in the arena," said Lennon, appointed to temporarily head the archdiocese after the recent resignation of Cardinal Bernard F. Law. "We desperately need their money along with ours if we are to effect any kind of fair settlement."
A law firm advising the archdiocese has concluded that the church has at least $90 million available for a settlement, most of it through coverage provided by two insurance companies, Travelers and Kemper.
Lawyers for victims said the motion was expected -- and that they expect it will be rejected. But some differed on interpreting the church's intentions.
Roderick MacLeish Jr., a lawyer with Greenberg Taurig, which represents about half of the people with pending claims against the archdiocese, said the First Amendment argument already has been rejected by several judges in Massachusetts.
Attorney Mitchell Garabedian, who also represents alleged victims, says the archdiocese's record of honesty is poor.
"What the church does and what it says on many occasions has proven to be two different things," he said.
Lennon, in his first news conference last week, said he backs efforts to settle lawsuits accusing church leaders of turning a blind eye to claims that priests molested children.
Still, Lennon would not rule out sending the archdiocese into bankruptcy as the church struggles to find a way to resolve lawsuits that claim the church failed to protect children from sexually abusive priests. It was an option that was first considered by Law before he resigned on Dec. 13.
Lennon said he was hopeful the church could settle the lawsuits by selling some of its real estate holdings and by using insurance money.
Lennon said he has selected church properties for sale, and has directed church officials to put them on the market as soon as possible. However he has not said which properties will be sold.
Meanwhile, some of the protesters who gathered outside the Cathedral of the Holy Cross in Boston for nearly year, calling for Law to step down, said they planned to picket Bishop John B. McCormack in Manchester, N.H., next week.
McCormack, once a top lieutenant to Law in Boston, told parishioners at St. Joseph Cathedral in Manchester last week that he was haunted by his part in the church sex scandal, and questioned whether it could affect his future as the leader of the Manchester Diocese.
