Posted on 05/06/2005 8:00:29 AM PDT by Born Conservative
Federal suit says two founding priests of the Society of St. John molested a boy.
SCRANTON (PA) – The Diocese of Scranton has agreed to pay $200,000 to settle a civil suit that accused two priests of sexual misconduct with a minor, according to the attorney for the family that filed the suit. That’s only part of the total settlement of $454,550.
As a result of the settlement, the 3-year-old case was dismissed Thursday in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania.
The case was filed in March 2002 by a man who, in court documents, was identified as John Doe. Doe contended that, as a minor, he had been sexually molested by the Revs. Eric Ensey and Carlos Urrutigoity, two of the founding priests of the Society of St. John in Shohola, Pike County.
The civil suit named the two priests, the society, the diocese, former Bishop James Timlin and the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter as defendants. The Fraternity of St. Peter runs St. Gregory’s Academy, a school for boys in Elmhurst, where the Society of St. John was initially housed after Timlin gave permission for them to set up in the diocese.
Timlin followed diocese policy and suspended the two priests in January 2002 after contacting Doe’s family about the alleged misconduct, but the society remained active. Both priests denied wrongdoing, and no criminal charges were filed. Timlin retired and Joseph Martino became bishop in September 2003. Martino “suppressed” the society in November 2004.
Suppression is a Roman Catholic action taken under church law. It reverses a bishop’s approval, which was needed when the society set up in the diocese. When Martino issued the “decree of suppression,” he gave four written reasons, including that the diocese had to arrange a $2.6 million bailout for the debt-ridden society.
He also noted the society had failed to move toward its stated goal of establishing a conservative Catholic village on an expensive plot of land bought in Shohola, had “repeatedly refused to cooperate with the bishop,” and had entangled the diocese in “a public scandal” and the potentially expensive lawsuit.
James Bendell, the Washington state attorney for John Doe, provided the settlement figures. He said the diocese is paying its share of $200,000 up front, with another $55,000 up front from the Society. The Fraternity of St. Peter agreed to pay another $199,550 over several years, with at least some of that money coming from insurance.
Though the settlement and court dismissal mean there will be no legal decision on the case, Bendell said “I think a settlement of this size is basically an admission that the allegations are true.”
Diocese offices were closed Thursday because it was a holy day for the Catholic church. A call to the home of diocese spokesman Bill Genello was not returned.
Do you think it would be a good idea for the Priests to sign a Contract with the Church that would release the church from all liability for their actions? The Priests should bear the full burden for their sexual deprevation.
I sincerely think that Pope Benedict XVI will not allow any Priests to remain in the church. I believe they will be defrocked and prosecuted or just let go.
Sad to see that the molesting priests in PA are not only in the diocese of Allentown.
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