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 October 31, 2005
Hartford diocese to settle abuse cases for $22 mln
Reuters - Monday, October 31, 2005, 3:27 p.m. - The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Hartford, Connecticut, has agreed to pay $22 million to settle 43 cases of sexual abuse of children by priests from the 1960s to about 1985, lawyers and the
church said on Monday.
The settlement was concluded last week after two years of mediation by U.S. Magistrate Judge
William Garfinkel, who helped abuse victims and the Church reach similar settlements in 2001
and 2003, plaintiffs' lawyer Jason Tremont said.
Fourteen priests were accused of committing sexual abuse ranging from rape to fondling at the
Archdiocese of Hartford, mostly while John Francis Whealon was archbishop between 1968 and
1991, said Tremont, who represented 15 of the victims.
The U.S. Catholic Church has faced hundreds of lawsuits in involving priests charged with
pedophilia since the national scandal first erupted in Massachusetts in 2002 and then spread to
other U.S. dioceses.
Boston's archdiocese has agreed to pay about $86 million to settle claims, while in August, the
diocese of Oakland, California, agreed to pay $56.3 million to settle 56 cases.
James Hackett, one of the victims in Hartford, said he was molested in 1976 as an altar boy.
"No amount of money can replace what was taken from me at the hands of a child molester who
wore a Roman collar and called himself 'Father'," he said in a written statement. "No financial
compensation can even begin to make up for the horror that I endured."
Hartford's current archbishop, Henry Mansell, apologized for any harm committed against
children by priests.
"While past events cannot be changed, they can and must be acknowledged and dealt with justly
and compassionately," the archdiocese said. The cases of reported "misconduct" stretched from
the 1960s to about 1985, it added.
Tremont, who represented 40 people in 2003 and 24 people in 2001, said he expects more
people to come forward with charges of sexual abuse against the Catholic Church in the state.
The Hartford archdiocese said that of the 14 priests faced with charges of abuse, six had died
and four had been retired and can no longer be called priests. But the remaining four are still
considered priests, though only one is in active duty.
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