Child Abuse
Newspaper Articlessitemap privacy © 2003
THE Catholic hierarchy has discussed asking wealthy benefactors and priests of independent means to foot the estimated €25m compensation bill for victims of child abuse.
In the most serious financial crisis to beset the Catholic church in Ireland, bishops disclosed last week that they are running out of money to meet the spiralling costs of indemnifying the victims of clerical sex abuse.
A tax-free fund set up in 1996, the Stewardship Trust, is almost depleted and bishops are reviewing other ways of raising money to meet their liabilities.
More than €8m has been paid to abuse victims since it was set up, with €5m paid in the past two years. The country's 26 dioceses have contributed €6.3m to the central fund.
Hierarchy sources said this weekend that bishops are considering turning to wealthy benefactors to provide tax-free donations. Individual priests and bishops will also be asked to contribute. Many already have. Bequests left to the church for bishops to spend at their discretion are also likely to be pooled for the fund.
One hierarchy source said: "Several dioceses are seeking people of means who would be sympathetic. And priests will be invited to contribute. There is a long history of that in the church. We were never State-funded. We were funded by voluntary means."
It is understood that one diocese raised €100,000 for the Stewardship Trust through donations from benefactors and priests.
He described the church's financial situation as "daunting" because a final figure for compensation payouts can only be guessed at.
The option of selling church property is also under review by bishops but this is viewed as problematic.
"The question arises, what right do we have to sell church property?" said one senior cleric.
Bishop Willie Walsh of Killaloe has raised money in the past to compensate victims in his diocese by selling land adjacent to his residence. The sale of the church land has been questioned by some parishioners and the Bishop is now seeking legal advice.
Bishop Walsh said: "We are facing a situation where a good deal of money has to be raised.
"All of us in some way contribute to that ourselves as priests or bishops. How to raise more money is what is under review - whether it is up to each diocese to fund its own way, whether each diocese will meet the burden itself."
The Catholic church's finances have also come under scrutiny from the Labour party which questioned the charitable status of the Stewardship Trust.
Brian Cowen, the Minister for Finance, confirmed the Trust's charitable status in a parliamentary question tabled by Pat Rabbitte, the Labour party leader, last week.
Mr Rabbitte asked the minister whether "making contributions towards the payments of awards of damages and the costs associated with such awards could ever be regarded as charitable?"
The Trust was set up by bishops in 1996, as a central fund to pay claims for damages arising from clerical sex abuse. Its charitable status means that the Trust does not pay tax on interest on its deposits or interest on investments.
One tax expert said the Trust would not be liable for tax on diocesan donations.
The future of the Trust is now under review but if Bishops decide to maintain it as a depository for donations from benefactors, it could also be exempted from gift tax and capital acquisitions tax.
The tax laws bestow charitable status on bodies engaged in the "advancement of religion" but the Labour party questions whether settling litigation claims arising from clerical sex abuse can be considered charitable.
Martin Long, director of the Catholic Communications Office, said: "I think that Labour, or anyone else, should not lose sight of the fact that this [the Stewardship Trust] was considered a user-friendly way for the 26 dioceses to administer various types of support - including counselling, education and expert research - to victims of abuse.
"The agenda here is to bring healing to victims."
Following a three-day meeting in Maynooth, bishops released national figures on abuse payments for the first time last week. Since 1996, the Stewardship Trust has contributed to compensation settlements for 143 people in relation to abuse by 36 priests, amounting to €8.77 million. More than €2.5m of that was spent on legal costs.
In a statement, bishops said they had decided to begin a process of consultation in their dioceses on the future of the fund.