Archdiocese Should Choose Truth in Treatment of Sex Abuse Victims

OP-ED:

The Archdiocese of New York should choose truth and compassion in its treatment of survivors of sexual abuse.

The Archdiocese of New York created a defining moment with the Independent Reconciliation and Compensation Program.

The IRCP is a program that acknowledges and compensates survivors of childhood sexual abuse by its priests. Survivors who participate in the program have a safe way to seek the compensation and support they so desperately need and deserve.

The necessity of this program is underscored by the abysmal statute of limitations in New York that prevents most survivors of childhood abuse from seeking justice in the courts.

The IRCP only works if it provides truth. Unfortunately, it is marred with artificial deadlines, forcing survivors to make life-changing decisions with little compassion and empathy. Survivors are forced to act before the November 1, 2017 deadline.

Those with depression, addiction issues, or those who have kept the secret for decades, are out of luck unless they act before November 1. Not to mention that the program has had poor publicity outside of the State of New York where many survivors may now live.

Then, once a survivor enters the IRCP, the program does not disclose the identities, whereabouts or histories of the alleged perpetrator priests.

In addition, the program does not make public the institutional cover-up that allowed many of these priests to abuse for decades. We will never know why the allegations were covered up, who covered up those allegations, how many allegations there were, or how many alleged victims came forward.

That is neither the whole truth nor is it reconciliation.

Were it not for the brave victims who have announced the identity of the alleged perpetrators, we never would have known the truth about the abusive priests named in the IRCP claims. This burden should not rest on the shoulders of the survivors.

The Archdiocese of New York can fix this problem.

First: They must extend their arbitrary deadlines for victims of abuse. Victims are not data to be placed in a check box. They are children who were horribly wounded. Give them what they need most: Time and compassion.

Second: The Archdiocese of New York must disclose what they know and when they knew it. The families of Church facilities are rightly upset to hear about the allegations now. But the question remains. Who else is out there?

Courage is telling the whole truth even if the truth is painful and embarrassing.

J. Michael Reck is an attorney at Jeff Anderson & Associates who represents survivors of clerical abuse in the IRCP.