Wall Street Journal
The recent wave of accusations that the Catholic Church has mishandled sexual-abuse cases is giving new momentum to state efforts to extend the time frame for alleged victims of childhood abuse to sue the church.
Legislatures in a handful of states, including Connecticut, Arizona, New York and Michigan, as well as the territory of Guam, are considering lengthening or eliminating their statutes of limitations in sex-abuse cases. On Monday, the Florida legislature voted to abolish its time limitations in any new cases filed. The church has been lobbying against such measures, which typically apply to all sexual-abuse cases, not just those involving the church.
The state efforts to extend the time period in which people can sue for harm were begun before the latest string of allegations against the church. These include allegations against church leaders, including Pope Benedict XVI when he was Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, of failing to quickly defrock priests in Wisconsin, Oakland, Calif., and pockets of Europe, despite knowledge or warnings that the priests had sexually abused children.
The Vatican has denied wrongdoing in instances in which it has been accused of failing to act expeditiously in disciplining priests. It has acknowledged abuse and offered apologies for incidents of sexual abuse by priests. The pope recently ordered a delegation to investigate abuse in Irish dioceses.
Read further...
No comments:
Post a Comment