The Catholic Diocese of Maine has been doling out a lot of money lately. There was that $550,000 spent on the anti-gay campaign. And, there was another $200,000 paid to the victim of a sexually-abusing priest:
A lawyer has confirmed that the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland made a $200,000 settlement on Nov. 5 with his client, who said she was molested by a priest in 1976 in the rectory of St. Michael’s Church in South Berwick.
The priest was the Rev. James Vallely, said attorney Mitchell Garabedian, of Boston. The victim, who lives outside of New England, was 11 years old at the time and one of the first female altar servers in the state.
The settlement money came from insurance, said Sue Bernard, spokesperson for the diocese. The diocese received its first complaint about Vallely in 1978 and took action. It did not involve the victim in the settlement.
Took action? The Church leaders enabled abusers for decades. Yet, these same abuse-enabling church leaders are setting social policy for America. That’s sick.
