Suit Challenges Non-Disclosure Agreements In Priest Abuse Settlements

AP reported yesterday on a lawsuit filed in a Pennsylvania state trial court by four women (related as sisters) against the Catholic Diocese of Harrisburg.  The suit seeks to invalidate two confidentiality agreements entered in 1994 and 1995 in settling suits alleging that a parish priest, Rev. Augustine Michael Giella, abused two of the women when they were young girls.  The agreements apply to all family members. The Diocese says it no longer enforces confidentiality agreements stemming from pries abuse settlements, but plaintiffs' lawyer says they want this in writing before the women speak out.