Now, it's the attorneys: church officials play the blame game

Since sexual abuse of young people by priests drew national attention in 2002, church officials have offered a litany of assertions that things are not really as bad as they seem, or that groups and individuals, such as the scandal-obsessed media or those opposed to the teachings of the church, are engaging with the crisis to advance their own agendas.

Lately, there is a new word on the street. Now, according to the claims of spokespersons for the church, it's plaintiffs' attorneys and their greedy clients who are victimizing the Catholic church and fueling the scandal.

Rachel Zoll of The Associated Press reports that church leaders are taking an "aggressive public stand against attorneys who represent victims." There are three complaints: plaintiffs' claims are excessive and line the pockets of lawyers with the faithful's hard-earned dollars; plaintiffs' lawyers and victim advocates work together to further state legislation that rolls back statutes of limitations on sexual crimes; and attorneys donate to victims' groups, creating an unseemly symbiosis.

In the archdiocesan newspaper, Portland, Ore., Archbishop John Vlazny described his elevation to bishop as a lamb being led to the slaughter and terms sexual abuse claims "excessive." Francis X. Maier, chancellor for the Denver archdiocese, writing in Crisis magazine, compared the efforts of plaintiffs' attorneys to a "shakedown" and said, "Unfortunately, some attorneys have built an industry on twisting the goodwill of today's Catholic community into a hammer for smashing American Catholic life." Mark Chopko, general counsel for the U.S. bishops' conference, has urged victims to deal directly with dioceses so that attorneys do not pocket up to 40 percent of settlement funds.

Personal injury litigation is a source of debate in all sectors of American life. What is "excessive" to some is barely just to others. There is no question that plaintiffs' attorneys can walk away from a case with large sums of money. But, let's take a closer look.

The most salient point is that these lawsuits began only after victims had made repeated attempts to obtain apologies and compensation directly from dioceses and were rebuffed, or forced to sign confidentiality agreements limiting their ability to talk about the abusing cleric or the settlement terms. Since most bishops did not respond pastorally, lawyers got involved. Early on, these attorneys were blasted by church authorities and lay people for coming after accused priests or the bishops who abetted them. For example, Frank Bruni and Elinor Burkett (Gospel of Shame) say that when attorney Bruce Pasternack of New Mexico began to represent plaintiffs in lawsuits involving abusive priests, he was called a "money-grubbing Jew, priest-hater and Catholic-basher." Pasternack did not convince his critics when he stated quite reasonably: "I'd sue a Buddhist monk, a Protestant minister or a rabbi. I don't have any animosity toward the Catholic church. I just have animosity for people who rape children."

Bags of hate mail

Jeffrey Anderson, a Minnesota attorney who has been involved in more than 500 lawsuits against the church, said he has received bags of hate mail. According to the Minnesota Lawyer, one writer called him "the scum maggot of this country," while another insisted, "When the Catholic church needs advice from a WASP, Swede, bigoted shyster lawyer, we'll ask for it."

In Massachusetts, attorney Eric MacLeish received bomb threats at his office, someone threatened to kidnap his daughter from daycare if he continued representing sexual abuse victims suing the church, and a weapon was fired outside his home while he and his wife watched TV.

By August 2005, the church had paid out more than $1 billion in claims and there was no end in sight. Lawyers indeed can receive up to 30 or 40 percent of the proceeds from these cases. It is important to note, however, that in the 1980s and 1990s, and into 2002, there was no guarantee that these cases would generate any money at all. All the investment is up front for the lawyers who may or may not recoup their expenses years later when cases settle or receive jury awards. In Rhode Island, for example, Carl P. DeLuca, a attorney representing alleged survivors against the Providence diocese borrowed and then fell behind on a $50,000 loan to keep his business open, bought his own home back in a tax sale, let go of his BMW, office staff and downtown Providence office. His colleague in the cases, Timothy J. Conlon, had his car repossessed' and a foreclosure notice issued on a summer cabin in New Hampshire. Eventually, the Providence diocese settled 36 claims for $13.5 million.

Many plaintiffs' attorneys involved in the sexual abuse scandal are or were Catholics whose relationships with their faith were forever changed by their involvement with the Catholic scandal. Richard Cappalli, another Providence attorney, was so disillusioned with the church that he and his wife stopped practicing their religion. John Manly, a California attorney representing victims up and down the West Coast, wears a Miraculous Medal he received in second grade, and he continued to attend Mass during his first case against the church. He will always consider himself a Catholic but can no longer bear to attend Mass. The Orange County Weekly quotes Manly: "How do I explain to my children what I know, and still sit in the pews? It's a feeling of loss. I'm in a spiritual desert. I have two young ones who aren't baptized.... I don't know what to do. I have memories of great priests who were my teachers, my mentors. Now, I look back and think, 'What do I do with those memories as an adult?'"