Cases of child sexual abuse in the Roman Catholic Church

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There have been an estimated 1,400 sexual abuse lawsuits launched against Roman Catholic priests in the United States since 1985.

1 Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston
2 Roman Catholic Diocese of Dallas
3 Roman Catholic Diocese of Honolulu
4 Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Louisville
5 Outside of the U.S.
6 Abuse in literature
7 See also

[edit] Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston

Current settlements in the Boston, Massachusetts suits could reach up to $100 million. In some cases insurance companies have balked at meeting the cost of large settlements, claiming the actions were deliberate and not covered by insurance.

[edit] Roman Catholic Diocese of Dallas

In 1997 a jury awarded $120 million to victims in a sex abuse case against the Catholic Diocese of Dallas, Texas. The transcript of this trial is 9,000 pages. 3,000 of those pages have been edited by 5 volunteers to remove the names of victims to protect them and their families. These pages have been posted online at http://www.wearethechurch.org/kos/. They include the testimony under oath of Bishop Charles Grahmann where he admitted to never having taken the time to read the personel file on Fr. Kos. This included the 4 year history of allegations before he came to Dallas and the allegations that continued after he was bishop. In about April of 1992 a child abuse expert who only knew a small part of this documented history declared Rev. Kos to be a "textbook pedophile." Bishop Grahmann still did not read the record and allowed Rev. Kos to have access to children for almost one full year more. The last documented incident of abuse was 11 months later.

Reverend Rudolph Kos - Dallas, Texas, United States. On July 10, 1998 the Roman Catholic Diocese of Dallas agreed to pay $23.4 million to nine former altar boys who claimed they were sexually abused by Kos.

[edit] Roman Catholic Diocese of Honolulu

Reverend Arthur O’Brien, formerly of the Archdiocese of Boston, was incardinated into the presbyterium of the Honolulu diocese by Msgr. Joseph Anthony Ferrario, only to be convicted in 1992 of four counts of sexual assault on a ten-year old boy. Father O’Brien entered into a plea bargain with the prosecutor. The subsequent suggestion of the prosecutor that Father O’Brien's conviction be erased was rejected by the judge due to the gravity of the offense. He was permanently retired from clerical ministry by Msgr. Francis X. DiLorenzo in 1994.

Reverend Mark Matson (priest), C.R., former chaplain at Tripler Army Medical Center and a member of the Congregation of Clerks Regular of the Divine Providence, was convicted in Honolulu on March 8, 2000, of molesting a thirteen-year old boy at Maunalua Bay Beach Park on August 5, 1998. At the time of his arrest, Father Matson was not affiliated with the Diocese of Honolulu, and was living in the Hawai‘i Kai neighborhood known as Portlock. He is currently serving a twenty-year prison term at the Halawa Correctional Facility on O‘ahu.

Reverend Joseph Bukoski, III, SS.CC., Honolulu, Hawaii. Fr. Bukoski is a member of the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary. In 2003, he was canonically removed as the pastor of Maria Lanakila Catholic Church in Lahaina by Msgr. Francis X. DiLorenzo for allegations relating to sexual improprieties some thirty-years earlier. Fr. Bukoski has since issued a written public apology to his victim on November 12, 2005.

Reverend Mr. James "Ron" Gonsalves, Wailuku, Hawaii. Deacon Gonsalves was the former administrator of Saint Ann Roman Catholic Church in Waihee on the island of Maui. On May 17, 2006, he plead guilty to various counts of sexual assault on a 12-year-old male. Msgr. Clarence Richard Silva has permanently withdrawn his faculties and has initiated laicization proceedings against Deacon Gonsalves with the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

[edit] Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Louisville

Fr. Louis Miller - Louisville, Kentucky, United States. On March 31, 2003, Rev. Miller pled guilty to 44 counts of "indecent or immoral acts" and six charges of first degree sexual abuse, relating to incidents involving at least 21 children between 1957 and 1982. Miller also pled guilty to 14 further charges in Oldham County, Kentucky. Miller was sentenced to 20 years imprisonment on the Louisville convictions. The Archdiocese of Louisville made a $25.7 million dollar settlement involving 243 victims of sexual abuse, which was approved by a Louisville court on August 1, 2003.

[edit] Outside of the U.S.

Fr. Paul McGennis - Dublin, Ireland. He abused Marie Collins when as a thirteen year old she was in Our Lady's Hospital for Sick Children in 1961. Collins was later told that McGennis had admitted abusing children. However the Cardinal Archbishop of Dublin, Desmond Connell, refused "on legal advice" to supply his file on McGennis to the Irish police. McGennis was nevertheless convicted and gaoled. Marie Collins subsequently received an apology from Cardinal Connell.