CONCORD, N.H. (AP) – Advocates for people sexually abused by Catholic priests are upset that some active priests are collecting money for a “Mercy Fund” to help their disgraced former colleagues.
“This sends the wrong message. A lot of these guys they are raising money for belong in jail. A lot of my clients were offended that they were never punished and were protected. And now they are being provided for,” said Manchester lawyer Peter Hutchins, who has settled more than 100 cases of clergy abuse against the Diocese of Manchester since 2002.
A group called the Organization of Concerned Priests recently sent letters asking each priest in the diocese to contribute at least $1,000 to the fund. Organizers say the fund will be used to benefit sick and retired priests in general.
“This is a personal initiative on the part of a group of priests. They made the bishop aware of it but he has not endorsed it,” said Diocesan spokesman Patrick McGee.
“We continue to do everything we can to assist survivors of sexual abuse,” he added.
Unless they have been defrocked, sick and retired priests are eligible for $1,300 monthly pensions – $15,600 a year – and health insurance from the diocese. Only two priests in the diocese have been defrocked since the sexual abuse scandal broke in 2002.
Other accused or acknowledged abusers, including some in jail, remain eligible for financial aid.
How many retired and disabled priests receive benefits, and how many of them were implicated in the scandal, is not clear.
The Rev. Michael Griffin, president of the Organization of Concerned Priests, did not have a number available Wednesday night of how many priests were receiving benefits.
Griffin, a chaplain in Dover, has said previously the effort is not intended to suggest that victims do not deserve support.
But that hasn’t mollified critics.
“I have no problem with them reaching out to brother priests, provided they reach out to survivors as well,” said Carolyn Disco, an advocate for survivors of clergy abuse.
“To some victims, your efforts will no doubt feel very hurtful,” said Ann Hagan Webb in a letter to Griffin on Tuesday. “The impression some will have is that those who are raped get token verbal support, while those who raped get actual, tangible support.”
Webb, New England coordinator of the Survivor’s Network of those Abused by Priests, said she would feel better if she knew the money was paying for counseling or other treatment for abusive priests.
AP-ES-10-11-06 1848EDT
Send questions/comments to the editors.
