Sexual abuses acknowledged

BOSTON -- Cardinal Bernard Law on Sunday acknowledged the anguish caused by the archdiocese's withdrawal from a settlement with 86 alleged victims of sexual abuse and said he would seek an "equitable solution."\nIn a rare, detailed accounting of the church's legal affairs, Law explained that the archdiocese's Finance Council had rejected the agreement because of what he called a "laudable" concern about the growing number of victims and the church's diminishing resources.\nHe disclosed that the number of additional sexual abuse claims against priests and the archdiocese had grown from 30 to 150 in recent weeks.\n"I trust you can understand the disappointment, the anger and even the sense of fresh betrayal which may be in the hearts of the 86 persons," Law told parishioners at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross on Sunday.\n"Nonetheless, I pray that, as time goes on, they may be willing to help in the framing of a wider settlement which can include the victims who have only recently come forward," he said.\nThe embattled cardinal did not apologize to the 86 Geoghan plaintiffs, all of whom signed the mediated settlement.\nOutside the cathedral, demonstrators gathered at the door where Law exits and chased his car down the street, waving signs and chanting: "First things first, pay the victims now."\nOne parishioner, who would not give his name, confronted Law as the cardinal greeted people leaving the church. "No real healing will take place ... as long as you are the archbishop here," the man said.\nLaw's hand-picked advisers on the archdiocese's Finance Council outraged victims' advocates Friday when they refused to approve a settlement worth an estimated $15 million to $30 million with 86 people who have accused former priest John Geoghan of sexual abuse.\nGeoghan was convicted in January of fondling a boy and is serving a nine-to-10 year prison sentence.\nLaw said he had learned only Friday that the settlement with Geoghan's accusers, which he endorsed in March, had to be reviewed by the 15-member finance council, made up mainly of lay business people.\nThe council denied his request, the cardinal said, because "the dramatic increase in the number of cases has substantially altered the situation."\nPlaintiff's attorney Mitchell Garabedian said he had told the archdiocese for years that the number of claims would escalate. During almost a year of negotiations, he said, the archdiocese's lawyers never mentioned that the settlement would be contingent upon the Finance Council's approval.\nGarabedian said he would contact a judge Monday to set a court date to continue the litigation, including an immediate deposition of the cardinal.\nLaw, who has refused calls to resign over his handling of priests accused of sexual abuse, addressed this latest controversy Sunday as he launched his annual appeal to raise millions to help cover the archdiocese's day-to-day operating expenses and charitable mission.\nLaw told parishioners that the "constant crisis" will "very likely have an effect" on the amount raised for the church.\nHe has repeatedly said the money would not be used to cover settlements. Last year's appeal raised $16.1 million.\nThe archdiocese is considering mortgaging some of its real estate to raise the millions of dollars needed to settle with alleged victims, the archdiocese's chief financial officer, Chancellor David W. Smith, told the Boston Sunday Globe. He said it likely would take months to determine how much would be needed to pay the claims.\nIn developments elsewhere:\n•The Connecticut Department of Children and Families, sent a letter Friday to Archbishop Daniel A. Cronin seeking information on seven complaints the archdiocese has received since January against its priests. The archdiocese said it is conducting an initial investigation to determine if the complaints, which involve conduct dating back 20 to 40 years, are credible.\n•The Rev. James A. Forsythe, a Catholic priest in the Kansas City suburb of Overland Park, Kan., served three months in prison for molesting a 15-year-old boy but has not registered as a sex offender as required in South Dakota, where he is now a Protestant minister in Rapid City, The Kansas City Star reported. Forsythe, 47, pleaded guilty in 1989 to attempted indecent liberties with a child. He said he did not know he needed to register and plans to see a lawyer this week to do so.\n•An Ohio priest who admits fondling teen-age boys said he deluded himself into thinking he was acting out of love and concern for them, the Dayton Daily News reported. The Rev. G.R. Keith Albrecht, 56, said he had inappropriate relationships with four boys, the youngest age 16. He is one of three priests in the 19-county Archdiocese of Cincinnati on leave because of accusations of sexual misconduct.\n•New Orleans Archbishop Alfred C. Hughes suspended a priest pending investigation of two sexual abuse allegations involving minors in an Austin, Texas, diocese in the 1980s. The Rev. C. Richard Nowery was suspended April 29.\n•The Rev. John E. Leonard of Richmond, Va., told his congregation at St. Michael's that he is being placed on administrative leave while the diocese investigates allegations he engaged in improper sexual behavior more than two decades ago. Leonard said he agreed with the decision.