The Greensburg Catholic Diocese yesterday launched its compensation fund for victims of sexual abuse by clergy. They did not report how much money is in the fund.
Applications for compensation will be accepted through May 28th. The fund is for those under the age of 18 when they suffered abuse by a priest, deacon, or seminarian from the diocese, or by another clergy member who was involved in active ministry within the diocese, which covers Westmoreland, Indiana, Armstrong, and Fayette counties. Applicants must have identified themselves to the diocese as having been victimized on or before Tuesday, February 26th.
While state law puts a deadline of the victim’s 30th birthday for court action to occur in child sexual abuse cases, the diocese will not cap the age for applicants to its compensation fund. Anyone who accepts money from the diocese must agree to give up the right to sue the diocese in the future, and the diocese will provide free legal counsel for those who do not have an attorney.
For information on the fund, visit the diocesan website, dioceseofgreensburg.org, or the fund’s administrator, commonwealthmediation.com.
Last August, the diocese named twenty-one clergy members who had been accused of abuse, many of them going back decades and many of the accused priests now deceased.
