Donations won't go to sex-abuse cases

Archbishop acts to reassure Catholics in fund-raising drive

The Archdiocese of Louisville is starting an annual fund-raising drive with a pledge to local Catholics that their donations will not be used to pay legal fees or settlements over allegations of sexual abuse by clergy.

The archdiocese has set a $3 million goal for its Catholic Services Appeal, which pays for educational and social services and church administration. It is one of several funding sources for the church.

The archdiocese is facing 185 lawsuits alleging sexual abuse by 30 priests and other church workers between the 1950s and early 1990s. Settlements by dioceses elsewhere in the country have topped $10 million in similar cases.

But in a letter sent this month to each Catholic household in the archdiocese's 24 counties, Archbishop Thomas C. Kelly tried to assure potential donors that any legal costs will be covered by ''funds from our investments and possibly insurance.''

The investments have a market value of $68.5 million, according to the archdiocese's 2001 financial statement. Interest from the investments pays for a variety of church activities.

''Your donations to the 2002 CSA will be used to fund ministries and services that address religious, educational and social service needs in our church and community,'' Kelly wrote. ''Gifts will not be used for legal fees or settlements.''

Cecelia Price, spokeswoman for the archdiocese, acknowledged that some people are wary of giving money in the current legal climate. That, plus the slow economy, are factors in a decision to make this year's goal the same as last year's -- $3 million. The 2001 drive raised $3.2 million.

''We've heard from people who say they're not going to give, and we've heard from people who say they're going to give more,'' Price said. ''We've heard every kind of reaction.''

Price acknowledged there is no way to know the outcome of the legal process but added: ''We are confident in this fiscal year the costs related to clergy sexual abuse can be covered by insurance and savings and investments. So we do not expect parish assessments or the Catholic Services Appeal (funds) to be used for that.''

As for future fiscal years, ''it's impossible to say'' what impact the lawsuits would have on funds from those sources, Price said.

''It would be speculative. We're taking one year at a time. But we're confident about this year.''

The fund drive runs from September into the winter, and the money raised goes toward activities in the current fiscal year, which runs from July through June.

The archdiocese also receives income from parish assessments, bequests, special collections, investments, fees and other sources.

Parishes pay most of their expenses on their own but send 5 percent of their annual proceeds to the archdiocese.

The archdiocese had a $32 million budget in 2001, including $21 million for administration and $5.5 million for Catholic Charities.

William McMurry, the lead attorney representing plaintiffs against the archdiocese, said he accepted church officials' assurances. He said the archdiocese's liability insurance during the years of the alleged abuse should cover its own lawyers' costs and any settlements.

He said his conversations with lawyers in other parts of the country have indicated that at least 70 percent of damages paid by other dioceses have been covered by insurance.

Dioceses such as Dallas; Santa Fe, N.M.; and Santa Rosa, Calif., which have been hit especially hard by clergy-abuse cases, have had to sell property or borrow money in addition to relying on insurance. The Archdiocese of Boston, epicenter of the current church scandal, says it may have to consider selling some property.

Earlier this month, the Boston archdiocese reached a $10 million settlement with 86 victims of a former priest, and the Diocese of Providence, R.I., reached a $13.5 million settlement with 36 victims of various priests.

The highest settlement on record came in 1998 when the Diocese of Dallas paid $30 million to 11 victims of a priest.

Price said that beginning this year, the Louisville archdiocese will include in its annual report any legal costs resulting from alleged sexual abuse by its workers. But the archdiocese does not plan to report how much it has paid in total in the past, she said.

The Diocese of Covington reported earlier this year that over the years, sexual misconduct by priests had cost it $3.2 million, of which $1.8 million in settlements was covered by insurance.

The Archdiocese of Baltimore says it has paid $4.1 million in the last 20 years, most of it covered by insurance.