Posted on 11/07/2022 6:06:22 PM PST by marshmallow
Boston, Mass., Oct 26, 2022 / 09:00 am The Diocese of Buffalo has settled a two-year-old lawsuit with New York Attorney General Letitia James over charges that it covered up sexual abuse cases involving priests.
The deal doesn’t include any financial penalties but institutes structural reforms and appoints the state to exercise some oversight of the diocese.
The 2020 lawsuit accused the Buffalo Diocese of covering up sexual abuse cases involving more than two dozen priests. The suit charged diocesan leaders of failing to report the accused priests to the Vatican and of misappropriating charitable donations to support their defense.
The agreement between the diocese and the attorney general’s office directs the diocese to appoint a child protection policy coordinator whose responsibilities include making sure the diocese’s child protection policies are abided by, an Oct. 25 press release from the Diocese of Buffalo said.
A former assistant district attorney, former criminal defense attorney, and former parish life coordinator at a local parish, Melissa Potzler, has been appointed to the role.
Potzler will assume the role of vice chancellor and report directly to the diocesan ordinary, Bishop Michael Fisher. Potzler will oversee diocesan processes for compliance with the law and its internal reforms as well. Potzler will also oversee the diocese’s Priest Supervision Program, which Fisher says he implemented last year to “account for priests removed from active ministry.”
In addition to the diocese’s audit of its protocols done by an external firm each year, the agreement includes an additional audit that will be run by an outside firm. That firm will be approved by the attorney general’s office and will have available to it “full access to all relevant departments and records and the full cooperation by all diocesan representatives necessary to conduct the audit,” according to the.............
(Excerpt) Read more at catholicnewsagency.com ...
So……..
Whatever happened to separation of church and state????
Well, the Pope is allowing the Chinese Communists to run the Catholic Church in China, so why not let the democrats run theChurch here.
Forever? Or how many years?
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