Yesterday, the Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia released the Final Report (full text) of the Oversight Committee monitoring the Archdiocese's Independent Reconciliation and Reparations Program. The Program was designed to to provide compensation and support to victims of childhood sexual abuse committed by clergy of the Archdiocese. The Report says in part:
Of the 623 claims filed, 619 received final determination letters. Three of the 623 claims filed remain "on hold" as a result of ongoing criminal investigations of these claims, and one claim was withdrawn by the Claimant prior to determination.
Of the 619 Claimants who received determination letters, 475 were determined to be eligible for compensation, while 144 were determined to be ineligible.
Of the 475 eligible claims, as of the writing of this report:
- 438 Claimants (more than 90% of those eligible) have accepted their offers and been paid a combined total of $78,465,000;
- one claim was withdrawn after the determination was made;
- fifteen claims missed the acceptance deadline....; and
- twenty-one offers (totaling $2,040,000) were rejected by the Claimants....
...We also confirmed that the Archdiocese reports all allegations of criminal conduct to law enforcement regardless of when the conduct is alleged to have occurred or the status of the alleged perpetrator. The Archdiocese does not make a determination of an allegation's potential viability for prosecution, but rather leaves that determination to the law enforcement authorities with appropriate jurisdiction over the allegation.
Catholic Philly has additional details. The victim advocacy organization SNAP also issued a press release reacting to the Report.
