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	Priest Warns California Scandal Hardly over L.A. Cases Will Make Boston Look like 'Altar Boys' Picnic,' He Says By Marie Rohde Milwaukee Journal Sentinel [Milwaukee WI] June 26, 2005 Father Thomas Doyle, a priest who was part of the Vatican diplomatic corps 20 years ago when he warned the Catholic hierarchy that they needed to deal promptly with what was to become the sex abuse scandal, said Sunday that the fallout from the scandal is far from over. "The epicenter is California," Doyle said. "One diocese just paid out $36 million, and the Diocese of Orange paid out $110 million. When Los Angeles bursts, it will make Boston look like an altar boys' picnic." Doyle, a Dominican priest born in Wisconsin who holds a canon law degree, spoke at a meeting of the local chapter of Voice of the Faithful, a national group that formed in response to the scandal. Nearly 300 attended the meeting in the basement of St. Matthias Catholic Church at 9306 W. Beloit Road. After the first sex scandal hit in Louisiana in 1984, Doyle was one of the authors of a report that urged America's bishops to minister to abuse victims, form a national crisis intervention team and research the impact of the abuse on the victims. He labeled the report as confidential, sure that the bishops would deal with it promptly. "It was scuttled," said Doyle, who was an aide to the pope's top diplomat in Washington, D.C., at the time. "I was never contacted by any of the bishops after that." Doyle has become the most outspoken supporter of abuse victims and reform groups such as Voice of the Faithful. He has frequently testified as an expert witness for abuse victims who sued the church. Accidental whistle-blower Doyle described himself as an accidental whistle-blower. The reaction of the bishops stunned him. "I was not a revolutionary," Doyle said. "I really thought that they would do the right thing." The media that have reported on the abuse and the lawyers who sued the church were unjustly labeled as anti-Catholic, he said. But the courts and the media are changing the way the church exists in secular society, forcing the bishops to be more responsive. "I was in a courtroom when a judge told a bishop to answer questions or go to jail," Doyle said. "Their exalted position is being threatened, even their tax-exempt status." He also warned the bishops that the sexual abuse scandal would cost the church $1 billion if they did not act. Earlier this month, The Associated Press said the known settlements to date have exceeded $1 billion, and that scores of other lawsuits around the country have not been settled. The Milwaukee Catholic Archdiocese has paid out $8.3 million in costs associated with sexual abuse of minors by priests. Doyle said the $1 billion figure was reached long ago. "Most of the settlements were secret and not part of that tally," Doyle said.