Milwaukee Archdiocese - Church Paid Sexually Abusive Priests To Leave Reuters

NEW YORK Thu May 31, 2012 11:26am EDT

NEW YORK (Reuters) - New York Cardinal Timothy Dolan official $20,000 obligations to some number of sexually abusive priests so that they would without delay abandon the particular Milwaukee archdiocese as soon as Dolan appeared to be archbishop there close to a decade ago, a church spokeswoman stated upon Thursday.

The Survivors Network regarding these Abused simply by Priests (SNAP) first declared the bills on Wednesday when exploring mins of your March the year 2003 reaching with the Milwaukee archdiocese finance council meeting. SNAP is definitely stressful 100 % disclosure of their this kind of payments.

Church administrators established your payments because approved in the minutes but archdiocese spokeswoman Julie Wolf explained your lady possessed nonetheless to determine how many priests been given them, estimating the quantity with "a handful, some sort of couple."

"This dollars has been characterised as bonus deals as well as payoffs and that is easily not really the particular case. In 2002 and 2003 once the clergy abuse crisis definitely followed to a head, individuals were getting in touch with for priest offenders that will always be removed - get them out of right now there - as well as the church in this article contracted so that they can expedite that process," Wolf said.

The pay-out odds urged this abusive priests to help voluntarily accept laicization, the procedure with resorting an ordained priest in to a place person.

Had that priests contested laicization, it could actually include considered years during which in turn time frame the particular priests would have acquired paycheck and benefits, Wolf said.

Dolan is becoming the particular face connected with the particular Catholic Church within the United States because switching from Milwaukee for you to New York with 2009, becoming president on the U.S. Conference associated with Catholic Bishops completely along with becoming lifted to be able to Cardinal through the Vatican previously this year.

(Reporting by means of Daniel Trotta ; Editing by Jackie Frank )