Another Catholic institution tries to block child sex-abuse lawsuits
NEW ORLEANS — The Roman Catholic Diocese of Lafayette challenged the constitutionality of a state law that let child molestation victims sue for long-ago abuse. The Louisiana Supreme Court rejected it.
The Archdiocese of New Orleans is offering abuse victims less than 10% of what they are requesting in a bankruptcy settlement, in part by arguing the so-called “lookback window” law doesn’t apply to more than 600 abuse claims filed.
And now, a third Roman Catholic organization is taking another bite at the apple, asking a federal judge to strike down the same Louisiana law.
Behind this latest effort are the Dominican Sisters of Peace in Baton Rouge and a law firm that boasts about having represented Catholic institutions in court for more than a century.
“If anyone could undo the will of the Louisiana state supreme court, the Catholic church can and will,” the plaintiff in that case said in an interview with the Guardian.
The plaintiff said he considered it hypocritical for a prominent Catholic leader like New Orleans Archbishop Gregory Aymond – who heads the state’s Conference of Catholic Bishops – to publicly profess his moral support for the efforts by victims of clergy molestation to be made whole while his attorneys are simultaneously “continuing to fight” maneuvers that improve the potential value of survivors’ claims for damages.
“If Catholic groups use bogus constitutional challenges to delay justice for another three years, we could see 15-20% of survivors die, give up hope, or otherwise drop out of litigation,” Schubert said. “That would save the Church millions upon millions of dollars.”
https://www.wwltv.com/article/news/inves...d534969133
NEW ORLEANS — The Roman Catholic Diocese of Lafayette challenged the constitutionality of a state law that let child molestation victims sue for long-ago abuse. The Louisiana Supreme Court rejected it.
The Archdiocese of New Orleans is offering abuse victims less than 10% of what they are requesting in a bankruptcy settlement, in part by arguing the so-called “lookback window” law doesn’t apply to more than 600 abuse claims filed.
And now, a third Roman Catholic organization is taking another bite at the apple, asking a federal judge to strike down the same Louisiana law.
Behind this latest effort are the Dominican Sisters of Peace in Baton Rouge and a law firm that boasts about having represented Catholic institutions in court for more than a century.
“If anyone could undo the will of the Louisiana state supreme court, the Catholic church can and will,” the plaintiff in that case said in an interview with the Guardian.
The plaintiff said he considered it hypocritical for a prominent Catholic leader like New Orleans Archbishop Gregory Aymond – who heads the state’s Conference of Catholic Bishops – to publicly profess his moral support for the efforts by victims of clergy molestation to be made whole while his attorneys are simultaneously “continuing to fight” maneuvers that improve the potential value of survivors’ claims for damages.
“If Catholic groups use bogus constitutional challenges to delay justice for another three years, we could see 15-20% of survivors die, give up hope, or otherwise drop out of litigation,” Schubert said. “That would save the Church millions upon millions of dollars.”
https://www.wwltv.com/article/news/inves...d534969133
teachings of the Bible are so muddled and self-contradictory that it was possible for Christians to happily burn heretics alive for five long centuries. It was even possible for the most venerated patriarchs of the Church, like St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas, to conclude that heretics should be tortured (Augustine) or killed outright (Aquinas). Martin Luther and John Calvin advocated the wholesale murder of heretics, apostates, Jews, and witches. - Sam Harris, "Letter To A Christian Nation"
