Who will pay for the sins of a few priests?

T here is a complexity to the sexual abuse lawsuits against the Catholic Diocese of Spokane that the media and others do not recognize. They prefer to view the matter in simplistic terms: “insensitive church hierarchy versus irreparably damaged victims.”

But there is another perspective that says thousands of good Catholics in this diocese today will pay substantially for the sins of a few priests who violated their vows and perpetrated these crimes many years ago.

Let’s look candidly at what the diocese faces: Just three of the current lawsuits seek over $70 million dollars. These lawsuits represent only 23 of the 100-plus victims identified so far. Remember, just two priests committed two-thirds of the abuses.

Who is being asked to pay this money? Current and future members of Spokane’s Catholic Diocese. Yet, most of the abuse took place 30 to 50 years ago. These are lawsuits against today’s Catholics, their parishes and schools.

If the current legal battle finds the 2004 Spokane Catholic community liable for what happened many years ago, the diocese will be broke. That is no exaggeration. The diocese’s annual financial report will corroborate this statement. Some say the Vatican will never let a diocese go bankrupt. Maybe. Nonetheless, the church operates under standard fiscal rules and current and future Catholics will pay back any “loans” with many “unintended consequences” occurring in the curtailment of worthwhile activities.

It may come down to which churches and schools the victims wish closed. Or will their attorneys try to attach the Priest’s Retirement Fund? If so, hundreds of priests who honored their vows over the years will sue. Or will the attorneys attach dedicated funds like the Annual Catholic Appeal? Again, there will be a countersuit. Do victims honestly think they will be better off if they shut down parish churches or schools or try to attach other contractually bound funds?

We all appreciate valid concerns about the well-being of legitimate victims, but there is a valid question on the other side of the issue: How are the church and its ministries doing? Will there be Catholic schools next year? Will Catholic social services be curtailed?

The courts have the responsibility to serve the common good. If the only rights served are those of the victims, who will pay? Is the public ready to increase taxes to pay for the additional burden when thousands of children from Catholic schools are added to the public school system? These are serious questions that no one is asking or answering.

While a few claims have been settled, efforts by the Spokane Diocese to mediate and settle the bulk of them have not been successful because the diocese simply does not have the economic wherewithal to satisfy the demands made by the victims’ lawyers for payments two to three times more than what abuse claims were settled for in Boston.

Further, insurance companies who gave the diocese liability coverage 30 and 40 years ago feel they were put in economic jeopardy when the 1988 Legislature changed the statute of limitations and revived claims that had been time-barred. The insurance companies’ contracts with the diocese could in no way have anticipated retroactive civil liability.

Contrary to what The Spokesman-Review said in an unfortunate and ill-informed editorial this past winter, I do not believe Bishop William Skylstad’s request for a clarification of the statutes of limitations is just a “legal strategy.” It is a necessary step toward the solution to this complex economic, as well as moral, issue.

The terrible irony is that unless the courts of Washington state structure the constitutional and legal parameters for just settlements, there may be no Spokane Diocese left with which to settle. The diocese and Bishop Skylstad have no choice but to seek clarification of the overarching constitutional issue in order to pursue his goal — negotiations that will fairly resolve credible claims of abuse that are within the means of the diocese to compensate.

Bishop Skylstad is responsible for the good of the entire diocese, not just those victimized in the past. He has to stand firm, and it would help if people, and the media, would recognize not only the complexity of this issue, but the responsibilities that the bishop and the diocese have to all Catholics in Eastern Washington, as well as to those wounded by abuse.