A year after the massive sex-abuse settlements in Boston some victims are realizing that money doesn’t bring happiness or closure or a return to innocence. Some take comfort in the fact that people are rebelling against the Church over parish closings. Others simply give up and kill themselves. Some are moving on with their lives.
Meanwhile, the lawyers are splitting their one-third share of the $85 million. Who knew there was such profit in other people’s pain? And some of the victims themselves feel like the push for a big settlement robbed them of an opportunity to have their case heard in court. Except that would have meant more work for their lawyers with an uncertain payoff in the end.
And the archdiocese continues to bear the costs over and above the settlement payout. Just this year, it will have spent $2 million on therapy for victims. That doesn’t come out of the sale of property that went to the monetary portion of the settlement; it comes out of the operating expenses. So when people complain about their parish being closed, they can look right there at one of the reasons why. Everything is interconnected.
