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	Rewards Suggested to Uncover Abuse by U.S. Priests Reuters [Chicago IL] June 15, 2005 CHICAGO (Reuters) - A group representing victims of the sexual abuse scandal in the U.S. Catholic church said on Wednesday that church leaders should set up a reward fund to flush out priests who have so far escaped detection. A "blind loyalty to the church" has kept many victims and others with knowledge of abuse from coming forward, said Barbara Blaine, president of the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests. A reward fund, even starting with something as modest as $5,000, would "encourage whistle blowers," she told reporters at a sidewalk news conference outside a Chicago hotel where the U.S. Catholic bishops were gathering for three days of meetings. There was no immediate response from the bishops, who at their sessions will re-examine the policies they set up three years ago in response to the scandal that has cost the church heavily in both money to settle suits and in its public image. A prime component of those policies, one providing that priests who are found to have committed even a single act of sexual abuse should be removed from the priesthood, is likely to be retained. The bishops will also consider whether to fund a study designed to identify what factors led to the scandal. Blaine said the bishops too often wait for cases of abuse to come to them rather than going to parishes where abuses have been reported and encouraging people to come forward. The sex scandal first surfaced in Boston in January 2002. It ultimately led to the resignation of Boston Cardinal Bernard Law and sparked investigations that showed the problem was present across the United States. Earlier this month the Diocese of Covington, Kentucky, resolved a class-action lawsuit filed in 2003 on behalf of more than 100 victims of clerical sexual abuse by creating a $120 million compensation fund. Blaine's group said it was the largest settlement so far in the scandal.
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