A US JURY has awarded $30 million in compensation to a man who was sexually abused by a Catholic priest.
In what is believed to be the largest such settlement granted a victim of clerical child sex abuse, the Delaware jury also decided on Wednesday last that the parish where the abuse occurred, St Elizabeth in Wilmington diocese, must pay $3 million of the damages with the abuser liable for the rest.
It is rare for parishes to be held liable in such cases. Generally it is the diocese or the religious congregation concerned which is found to be responsible for damages.
However, the Catholic diocese of Wilmington, which covers all of the State of Delaware, was declared bankrupt just as this case came to trial. An estimated 100 similar cases were then pending against the diocese
The jury is set to hear evidence on punitive damages on Monday.
The abuse victim, John M Vai, is one of seven people who alleged abuse by Francis DeLuca, a former priest who was defrocked in 2008.
Mr Vai’s lawyers said they had saved the most damning evidence for the next phase, and that the award could grow beyond the compensatory damages.
The abuse took place in the 1960s but Delaware and California recently passed laws which temporarily lift the statutes of limitations allowing cases such as this to be taken. Catholic dioceses in other states, such as New York, successfully opposed such laws.
Mr Vai testified that the parish was negligent in his abuse. He said that when he was a small boy being hauled up the stairs to his abuser’s bedroom in the rectory, he was seen by another parish priest, who is now a diocesan official.
That man, now Msgr Thomas Cini, told the court that he was unaware of the abuse. Another witness testified that other priests in the parish were aware of Mr DeLuca’s behaviour.
The Bishop of Wilmington Francis Malooly apologized to Mr Vai and other victims, in a statement. He said the bishop of a diocese, not the parishes, should be held responsible for the actions of priests.
“It is unfortunate that the parish community of St Elizabeth’s is being made to pay for the criminal and sinful acts of someone who was assigned by the diocesan bishop at the time to be one of their priests,” he said.
