RG & TP. I’m very sorry you two have personal experience with this, but this is an insurance blog, not a victim’s blog. I would like to better understand your position so please indulge a sincere question. Why ask for money? If it “isn’t about the money” and recognizing that money doesn’t “heal” anything, why chase it? To the extent a financial penalty “got the attention” of the church, I understand that idea. But the point has been made and prevention efforts being made. With all due respect, I have a hard time understanding how and why it would take anyone 20-30 years to come forward. And the timing appears suspect. Money started flowing and that seemed to provide incentive for coming forward?
Okay, Mr. or Ms. RM whomever…I stated in the original that if you can’t understand why it would take 20-30 years, then don’t add your 2 cents. I don’t agree with the amount of money in any way. Justice would be enough. The money is rediculous! I didn’t disagree with anyone there! Please read the original posting again! Quit paying attention to only 1 part!!!
Eli – I have no grudge against the Church but finally, with the suits, the Diocese is waking up and putting a stop to it. I can’t imagine being a young boy looking up to a priest as the closest thing to God and him molesting me. The lawsuits are making a difference – it didn’t seem like the Church took it seriously and just swept it all under the rug until money became involved.
It didn’t take me or my sister all that long to tell people – so I don’t understand waiting decades either. We knew something was wrong so we told people.
As for the money – if you want to get money from the church to make them pay attention don’t give it to the plaintiff. Give the money to a fund that goes toward doing some good in this world.
Oh, and fix the statute of limitations. There is one, but is starts from the time you “realize you were harmed” and that’s stupid.
I’m so happy to know that it didn’t take you and your sister “all that long” to tell people. That’s great! Unfortunately it takes some longer than others to feel they can open up and tell someone.
Aside from that, for all you folks that are griping about the $$$, let me ask you something…what amount of money does it take to give a CHILD their innocence back? What about their trust in adults, namely the adults they were taught to have the utmost respect for? What about their virginity, something that is supposed to be holy and kept pure? There is no amount of money that can bring any of those things back, so why can’t we just let these folks have what the jury has awarded to them? I’d rather see someone get monetary compensation for something like this than having someone spill a cup of coffee in their laps…
1. Anyone who thinks that the wave of scandal has caused changes that have eliminated the problem of priests molesting children, think twice. Google Daniel McCormack from Chicago. The difference between what happened years ago and what has happened with Fr. McCormack is that the church now knows that its old approaches were unacceptable. It wouldn’t have learned its lesson witrhout the pain of having to pay out some serious dough. If it hadn’t cost them money, they would have continued to handle it the same way they did in the 60’s and 70’s. After all those people stopped complaining. They got over it and went on with their lives …. or did they.
2. The suggestion that people are only stepping forward because there is big money involved is the kind of idea that insurance people would come up with — the numbers of lawsuits are like people getting onto a crashed bus to claim that they were a passenger when the bus crashed. If “fraud” were an issue and there was even one case which was fraudulent, that case would have been bandied in the press about by the church and their insurers and defense counsel to raise a stink of suspicion about all of the claimants and to deter more claims by raising the idea in the heads of the victims that they might be called liars yet again.
3. The numbers coming forward are not about an insurance gold rush, but a reflection of the anger that people feel after finding about the scope of the problem, the church’s knowledge of it, and their complicity in allowing the molesters access to children again and again.
4. A swift kick the arse — perhaps people should rub dirt on it also?!?!? So much for the ideas of healing and compassion ……
If you read lastbat’s entries, he is NOT opposed to justice. His question, as is mine, is why are people coming out now that there is monetary value involved? As he has also said, if it is not about the money, then why can’t the dollar amounts awarded be placed for the good of the people/communities instead of the victim. He is not claiming these people to be fraudulant by any means. You should read the comments before you attack.
The reason that people are coming forward now has more to do with point 3 — anger over discovery of the scope of the problem — than a desire for cash.
If you watch or read any of the stories about the priest sex abuse scandal, many of these people thought that they were basically alone, especially since the church basically blew off the complaints that were raised to diocese officials at the time. There is power in numbers, especially when you have been carrying an especially painful and private secret for a very long time. When the scandal hit the press, may people felt empowered to talk about it when they did not before.
As far as the money, I think most of them are motivated by a desire to see changes made an acknowledgement of wrongdoing. Also, as to punitive damages in many states, the government takes a portion of the proceeds. I would also be suprised if you see many of these victims living high on the hog with whatever money they get. And if they do, so what? I wasn’t molested by a priest, he was.
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THANK YOU RG!!! YOU’VE COMPLETELY SAID THAT PERFECTLY!!! SORRY IT HAPPENED TO YOU AS WELL!!!
RG & TP. I’m very sorry you two have personal experience with this, but this is an insurance blog, not a victim’s blog. I would like to better understand your position so please indulge a sincere question. Why ask for money? If it “isn’t about the money” and recognizing that money doesn’t “heal” anything, why chase it? To the extent a financial penalty “got the attention” of the church, I understand that idea. But the point has been made and prevention efforts being made. With all due respect, I have a hard time understanding how and why it would take anyone 20-30 years to come forward. And the timing appears suspect. Money started flowing and that seemed to provide incentive for coming forward?
Okay, Mr. or Ms. RM whomever…I stated in the original that if you can’t understand why it would take 20-30 years, then don’t add your 2 cents. I don’t agree with the amount of money in any way. Justice would be enough. The money is rediculous! I didn’t disagree with anyone there! Please read the original posting again! Quit paying attention to only 1 part!!!
Eli – I have no grudge against the Church but finally, with the suits, the Diocese is waking up and putting a stop to it. I can’t imagine being a young boy looking up to a priest as the closest thing to God and him molesting me. The lawsuits are making a difference – it didn’t seem like the Church took it seriously and just swept it all under the rug until money became involved.
It didn’t take me or my sister all that long to tell people – so I don’t understand waiting decades either. We knew something was wrong so we told people.
As for the money – if you want to get money from the church to make them pay attention don’t give it to the plaintiff. Give the money to a fund that goes toward doing some good in this world.
Oh, and fix the statute of limitations. There is one, but is starts from the time you “realize you were harmed” and that’s stupid.
I’m so happy to know that it didn’t take you and your sister “all that long” to tell people. That’s great! Unfortunately it takes some longer than others to feel they can open up and tell someone.
Aside from that, for all you folks that are griping about the $$$, let me ask you something…what amount of money does it take to give a CHILD their innocence back? What about their trust in adults, namely the adults they were taught to have the utmost respect for? What about their virginity, something that is supposed to be holy and kept pure? There is no amount of money that can bring any of those things back, so why can’t we just let these folks have what the jury has awarded to them? I’d rather see someone get monetary compensation for something like this than having someone spill a cup of coffee in their laps…
Amen Lastbat. Well said.
1. Anyone who thinks that the wave of scandal has caused changes that have eliminated the problem of priests molesting children, think twice. Google Daniel McCormack from Chicago. The difference between what happened years ago and what has happened with Fr. McCormack is that the church now knows that its old approaches were unacceptable. It wouldn’t have learned its lesson witrhout the pain of having to pay out some serious dough. If it hadn’t cost them money, they would have continued to handle it the same way they did in the 60’s and 70’s. After all those people stopped complaining. They got over it and went on with their lives …. or did they.
2. The suggestion that people are only stepping forward because there is big money involved is the kind of idea that insurance people would come up with — the numbers of lawsuits are like people getting onto a crashed bus to claim that they were a passenger when the bus crashed. If “fraud” were an issue and there was even one case which was fraudulent, that case would have been bandied in the press about by the church and their insurers and defense counsel to raise a stink of suspicion about all of the claimants and to deter more claims by raising the idea in the heads of the victims that they might be called liars yet again.
3. The numbers coming forward are not about an insurance gold rush, but a reflection of the anger that people feel after finding about the scope of the problem, the church’s knowledge of it, and their complicity in allowing the molesters access to children again and again.
4. A swift kick the arse — perhaps people should rub dirt on it also?!?!? So much for the ideas of healing and compassion ……
If you read lastbat’s entries, he is NOT opposed to justice. His question, as is mine, is why are people coming out now that there is monetary value involved? As he has also said, if it is not about the money, then why can’t the dollar amounts awarded be placed for the good of the people/communities instead of the victim. He is not claiming these people to be fraudulant by any means. You should read the comments before you attack.
The reason that people are coming forward now has more to do with point 3 — anger over discovery of the scope of the problem — than a desire for cash.
If you watch or read any of the stories about the priest sex abuse scandal, many of these people thought that they were basically alone, especially since the church basically blew off the complaints that were raised to diocese officials at the time. There is power in numbers, especially when you have been carrying an especially painful and private secret for a very long time. When the scandal hit the press, may people felt empowered to talk about it when they did not before.
As far as the money, I think most of them are motivated by a desire to see changes made an acknowledgement of wrongdoing. Also, as to punitive damages in many states, the government takes a portion of the proceeds. I would also be suprised if you see many of these victims living high on the hog with whatever money they get. And if they do, so what? I wasn’t molested by a priest, he was.