Post by depletedreasons on Nov 20, 2007 1:12:28 GMT -5
Jesuits to pay $50 million for alleged abuse by priests
By MARY PEMBERTON
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
A Roman Catholic religious order has agreed to pay $50 million to dozens of Alaska Natives who were victims of sexual abuse by Jesuit priests, their lawyer said Sunday.
The settlement with the Oregon Province of the Society of Jesus is the largest yet against a Catholic religious order, said Anchorage lawyer Ken Roosa.
He called the settlement "a great day" for the victims in which the truth of what had occurred over many years was recognized.
"These are people who were altar boys and altar servers and altar girls," Roosa said. "These are people who tried to tell their story and in many instances were beaten or told to shut up and told, 'How can you say such things about a man of God?' "
The Oregon-based province covers Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana and Alaska.
The settlement announcement is premature because some issues need to be finalized, said the Very Rev. John Whitney, S.J., provincial superior for the Society of Jesus, Oregon Province.
"When those issues are resolved, we will be available for a more complete discussion of the matter," Whitney said. He described the settlement announcement as "premature and detrimental."
Roosa said issues involving the plaintiffs had been resolved. The only issues that remained were with the religious order's insurer, he said.
He provided The Associated Press with an e-mail sent Friday from Dick Hansen, the lawyer representing the religious order. The e-mail reads: "This email will confirm that a settlement has been reached. ... The settlement calls for $50,000,000 to be paid to the plaintiffs/claimants in exchange for releases of all claims against the Jesuit defendants."
In the e-mail, Hansen says he's glad to "put this matter to rest."
The sexual abuse involved 13 or 14 clerics and spanned nearly 30 years, from 1961 to 1987, Roosa said. The ages of the children ranged from 5 to teenagers.
Roosa said the victims are now in their 30s, 40s and 50s.
In some villages it is difficult to find an adult who was not sexually violated by the priests, who then used religion and their power to silence hundreds of children, Roosa said.
"Despite all this, no Catholic religious leader has yet to admit that problem priests were dumped in Alaska. For our clients, this settlement represents a long overdue acknowledgment of the truth of their stories of abuse, stories that until today were largely denied and belittled by apologists for the abusers," he said.
Roosa said the Catholic Church first was notified of the Alaska cases of abuse in 2002.
The cases include those involving the Rev. James Poole, founder of Catholic radio station KNOM in Nome. Poole, who lives in an assisted-living facility in Spokane, worked in a number of towns and villages in rural Alaska.
In the early and mid-1990s, Poole met a half-dozen times with Stephen Sundborg, now the president of Seattle University, who was then provincial supervisor of the Northwest Jesuits. During those meetings, Poole was expected to reveal anything that might compromise his work as a priest, and Sundborg, as provincial, was required to keep those conversations secret.
Even if Poole confessed to criminal behavior with children, Sundborg has said that he would not be allowed to report it, though he could have taken steps to ensure that the priest did not work around minors.
In 1993, after Poole confessed to improper contact with adult women, Sundborg sent him to a treatment center for troubled clerics, and allowed Poole to return to his post at a Tacoma hospital the next year.
By 2003, after Sundborg was no longer provincial of the Northwest Jesuits, reports began to surface about Poole's assaults on children and he was removed from ministry.
Roosa said the cases also involve Joseph Lundowski, who died in 1993. Lundowski was a Trappist monk who volunteered for the bishop of Fairbanks, Roosa said.
"He was a very prolific molester and molested about 60 kids," he said.
The cases do not include those against the Diocese of Fairbanks, which owned and managed the churches in the villages in rural Alaska where the Jesuit priests were assigned.
Those 135 lawsuits have been reduced to 10. Those cases are expected to be mediated in December.
P-I reporter Claudia Rowe contributed to this report.
seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/340180_priest19.html
By MARY PEMBERTON
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
A Roman Catholic religious order has agreed to pay $50 million to dozens of Alaska Natives who were victims of sexual abuse by Jesuit priests, their lawyer said Sunday.
The settlement with the Oregon Province of the Society of Jesus is the largest yet against a Catholic religious order, said Anchorage lawyer Ken Roosa.
He called the settlement "a great day" for the victims in which the truth of what had occurred over many years was recognized.
"These are people who were altar boys and altar servers and altar girls," Roosa said. "These are people who tried to tell their story and in many instances were beaten or told to shut up and told, 'How can you say such things about a man of God?' "
The Oregon-based province covers Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana and Alaska.
The settlement announcement is premature because some issues need to be finalized, said the Very Rev. John Whitney, S.J., provincial superior for the Society of Jesus, Oregon Province.
"When those issues are resolved, we will be available for a more complete discussion of the matter," Whitney said. He described the settlement announcement as "premature and detrimental."
Roosa said issues involving the plaintiffs had been resolved. The only issues that remained were with the religious order's insurer, he said.
He provided The Associated Press with an e-mail sent Friday from Dick Hansen, the lawyer representing the religious order. The e-mail reads: "This email will confirm that a settlement has been reached. ... The settlement calls for $50,000,000 to be paid to the plaintiffs/claimants in exchange for releases of all claims against the Jesuit defendants."
In the e-mail, Hansen says he's glad to "put this matter to rest."
The sexual abuse involved 13 or 14 clerics and spanned nearly 30 years, from 1961 to 1987, Roosa said. The ages of the children ranged from 5 to teenagers.
Roosa said the victims are now in their 30s, 40s and 50s.
In some villages it is difficult to find an adult who was not sexually violated by the priests, who then used religion and their power to silence hundreds of children, Roosa said.
"Despite all this, no Catholic religious leader has yet to admit that problem priests were dumped in Alaska. For our clients, this settlement represents a long overdue acknowledgment of the truth of their stories of abuse, stories that until today were largely denied and belittled by apologists for the abusers," he said.
Roosa said the Catholic Church first was notified of the Alaska cases of abuse in 2002.
The cases include those involving the Rev. James Poole, founder of Catholic radio station KNOM in Nome. Poole, who lives in an assisted-living facility in Spokane, worked in a number of towns and villages in rural Alaska.
In the early and mid-1990s, Poole met a half-dozen times with Stephen Sundborg, now the president of Seattle University, who was then provincial supervisor of the Northwest Jesuits. During those meetings, Poole was expected to reveal anything that might compromise his work as a priest, and Sundborg, as provincial, was required to keep those conversations secret.
Even if Poole confessed to criminal behavior with children, Sundborg has said that he would not be allowed to report it, though he could have taken steps to ensure that the priest did not work around minors.
In 1993, after Poole confessed to improper contact with adult women, Sundborg sent him to a treatment center for troubled clerics, and allowed Poole to return to his post at a Tacoma hospital the next year.
By 2003, after Sundborg was no longer provincial of the Northwest Jesuits, reports began to surface about Poole's assaults on children and he was removed from ministry.
Roosa said the cases also involve Joseph Lundowski, who died in 1993. Lundowski was a Trappist monk who volunteered for the bishop of Fairbanks, Roosa said.
"He was a very prolific molester and molested about 60 kids," he said.
The cases do not include those against the Diocese of Fairbanks, which owned and managed the churches in the villages in rural Alaska where the Jesuit priests were assigned.
Those 135 lawsuits have been reduced to 10. Those cases are expected to be mediated in December.
P-I reporter Claudia Rowe contributed to this report.
seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/340180_priest19.html