Mediating church scandals

Still, mediation has supporters on both sides. In Rhode Island, for example, the Diocese of Providence waged a legal battle with victims of alleged clergy abuse for more than 10 years. Then last fall, after choosing mediation, they reached a settlement within weeks.

"It was amazing. I felt like an eight-ton weight was lifted off my shoulders," says Lee White. He says the process jump-started his healing - not because of the

money but because of the acknowledgment and strong apologies by church leaders. "They put me through a ringer for years with the stalling, but they finally did it right," he says.

"It was best for us," echoes the Rev. Paul Theroux, who represented the bishop in the process. "It got us past the legal technicalities" to a pastoral response. Monsignor Theroux and the mediator held marathon sessions to hear the story of each of the 36 victims. Beyond the $13.5 million settlement, "We affirmed our commitment to provide for counseling with no limit," he says.

Still, not everyone sees Providence as a model. Phyllis Hutnak, who was part of the settlement, contends that after resisting for 10 years, the diocese went to mediation so it would not have to disclose its personnel records.

In Milwaukee, meanwhile, where the archbishop resigned last year, the new leader, Archbishop Timothy Dolan, has spent hours in listening sessions with victims and recently responded positively to their proposal of mediation. Peter Isley, a Milwaukee psychologist and victim advocate, says they hope to draw on a mediation process involving St. John's Abbey in Collegeville, Minn., as a model. "That settlement seems a watershed because it is the most comprehensive one reached between victims and a church leader in the US," he says.

All victims were included regardless of the statute of limitations. The settlement also reformed policies of the Benedictine abbey, creating, for example, an independent lay board that includes two victims, and an outreach plan to inform students, alumni, and staff of any new allegations.

For the US Catholic Church, faced with multiplying cases and efforts to extend statutes of limitations in several states, mediation has become a necessity. Some dioceses, in fact, have raised the threat of bankruptcy. And polls show that 40 percent of Catholics are contributing less. "People have this idea the church is a bottomless pit of money, but each diocese has its limits," says Patricia Dugan, a canon lawyer in Philadelphia who represents accused priests. "Some are wealthy and others are quite poor."

Anderson endorses mediation because of what he saw in the St. John's experience. "It was a process of validation, healing, outreach, and prevention," he says. "Many of these issues need to be dealt with in alliances, but only after the heaviness of the unspoken secrets is lifted through litigation."

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