Diocese releases abuse settlement report

A view of St. Patrick's Roman Catholic Church on North Ave in Bridgeport, Conn. A view of St. Patrick's Roman Catholic Church on North Ave in Bridgeport, Conn. Photo: Christian Abraham, Hearst Connecticut Media Buy photo Photo: Christian Abraham, Hearst Connecticut Media Image 1 of / 12 Caption Close Diocese releases abuse settlement report 1 / 12 Back to Gallery

BRIDGEPORT — The Roman Catholic Diocese of Bridgeport has paid $52.5 million to settle claims of abuse by priests since 1953.

But along with that disclosure, which was part of a report it released Wednesday, the diocese acknowledged greater costs.

“My heart breaks at the harm to victims and betrayal of the faithful caused by the sin of abuse and the church’s repeated failure to act decisively and transparently to protect young people,” said Bishop Frank Caggiano, in releasing the report. “I wish to express my heartfelt apology to those affected by this tragedy.”

That apology wasn’t enough for everyone.

“For too long, leadership in the diocese treated our clients as enemies of the church,” said Jason Tremont, whose Bridgeport law firm Tremont, Sheldon, Robinson and Mahoney, represented most of the people who received settlements listed in the diocese report. “One wonders whether the diocese would have issued this report in the absence of the Pennsylvania grand jury investigation” into sexual abuse of children by priests.

“The current actions by Bishop Caggiano are steps in the right direction, but there is more to be done,” Tremont said. “Unfortunately, this report does not include the valid claims of victims who are now over the age of 48.”

There were 156 settlements since 1953, the diocese said, with the settlements averaging $337,000.

The report states that 97.7 percent — $51.5 million — of the settlements were for claims of abuse that occurred before 1990, with most occurring in the 1970s. There was one settlement of an alleged abuse of a child by a priest that occurred after 2000.

The report states that $46.2 million was paid for abuse claims against 12 priests.

One priest, the Rev. Raymond Pcolka, was responsible for $11.9 million in settlements, according to the report. He was accused of abusing 23 children in the 1970s, was defrocked in 2004 and died five years later.

Since the early 1990s, the diocese also paid $6.5 million in legal fees on abuse claims, the report states.

Caggiano announced on Oct. 3 that he had appointed a retired judge to look into claims that the diocese covered up priests’ sexual abuse of children for decades, and that he was going to make public the amount of settlements the diocese had paid.

“I pray that this financial report and other measures we are taking represent the beginning of a new chapter of transparency and accountability in the diocese,” the bishop states in a letter accompanying the financial report.

The report states that 92 percent of the settlements were paid through the sale of diocese property, insurance and from co-defendants in abuse lawsuits. It states that since 2014, after Caggiano became bishop, procedures were put in place to ensure that no funds used for settlements came from the Annual Catholic Appeal.

The diocese lists 26 priests on its website who have credibly been accused of sexual abuse in the diocese. Since the 1960s, according to the diocese’s own records turned over to the courts, abuse allegations against priests was hidden and the priests accused of abuse were moved from parish to parish.

Bishop Walter Curtis hid priest abuse in the 1970s and his predecessor, Bishop Edward Egan, who later became New York’s cardinal, continued the practice into the early 1990s, the records show.

“Bishops settle child sex cases to protect the careers and reputations of church officials who hid the abuse,” said David Clohessy, founder of the national Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests. “So a massive figure like this (in the report) suggests that many high-ranking Bridgeport Catholic staffers concealed horrific crimes.”

Clohessy continued, “This figure should prod local parishioners to demand real action to prevent and expose clergy sex crimes and cover ups and lay people should, in light of this scandal, donate to groups that stop abuse, not groups that enable abuse.”