Downtown

Brooklyn Diocese announces sex abuse compensation program

June 22, 2017 Associated Press Brooklyn Daily Eagle
The Cathedral-Basilica of St. James Cathedral in Downtown Brooklyn. Photo by Josh Ross
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The Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn is announcing a compensation program for victims of past sexual abuse by priests modeled on the program that the larger New York archdiocese started last year.

The Brooklyn program will be administered by Kenneth Feinberg and Camille Biros, who are also running the New York archdiocese program.

The Brooklyn diocese is sending letters to about 235 people who have previously reported being abused by a diocesan clergy member. They will receive instructions about how to file a claim.

A diocese spokeswoman says the abuse allegations go back as far as 1934. Families can apply if the victim is deceased.

The Brooklyn diocese also includes the borough of Queens.

Feinberg also served as the administrator of the compensation fund for the Sept. 11 victims’ families.

While the compensation program is new, the Diocese of Brooklyn already had an existing outreach to victims of clergy sex abuse. The diocese’s Office of Victim Assistance Ministry had been established for those needing to report incidents. The Brooklyn Eagle reported on April 21, 2015 about Bishop DiMarzio’s work with the survivors. He told the Eagle at that time that he had been meeting with a support group. Together they developed the idea of a healing Mass and planned that liturgy. The Mass, which took place on April 15, 2015, drew in more than 100 participants.

A handful of protesters outside the cathedral claimed that litigation must come first before healing, but abuse survivors attending the Mass disagreed, saying both healing and litigation can happen concurrently.

A diocesan spokesperson told the gathering in April 2015 that that all its employees and volunteers are required to undergo background checks and complete VIRTUS training on recognizing and preventing child sexual abuse.

—    Additional reporting by Francesca Norsen Tate

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