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  Court Approves Sale of Nfld. Churches to Pay Victims of Sexual Abuse

By Dene Moore
Canadaeast.com [Canada]
July 5, 2005

ST. JOHN'S, Nfld. (CP) - More than 130 churches and other property belonging to a Roman Catholic diocese in Newfoundland could soon be up for sale after a court approved a financial settlement Tuesday for the victims of abusive priests.

The negotiated settlement between St. George's Diocese and the 40 victims is expected to raise $13 million for compensation. St. George's is believed to be the first Catholic diocese in Canada to seek bankruptcy protection as a result of sexual abuse claims.

The men involved will receive awards of between $75,000 to $1 million once the sale of properties is completed over the next 30 months.

Supreme Court Justice Alphonsus Faour approved the deal over the objections of two victims, saying the settlement was reasonable.

"An overwhelming majority of creditors support the proposal and the trustee supports the proposal," Faour said.

Calling the sex crimes "heinous," the judge said he hopes the settlement will help the victims move on with their lives.

His endorsement brings to an end to a 16-year legal battle waged all the way to the country's highest court. Greg Stack, lawyer for 37 of the 40 men involved, said the court decision was the final step in what has been a long, difficult process for his clients.

"They'll be very happy, I suppose, when cheques are finally cut in another couple of weeks," Stack said outside the courthouse in St. John's.

Under the terms of the deal, worked out with the diocese under bankruptcy protection, St. George's will sell 134 properties along Newfoundland's west coast, including up to 60 churches and the diocese headquarters in Corner Brook.

St. George's will have 10 months to raise enough money to purchase 59 other core properties, mostly its major churches, before they are sold on the open market.

The church won't have to sell items used to perform mass, such as vestments, candelabras or Bibles. Bishop Douglas Crosby was not available for comment Tuesday, but issued a statement saying the court decision affirms his belief that the proposal was fair and just.

"But more importantly, today marks the beginning of the end of a long and painful episode for the victims of sexual abuse and for the priests and people of St. George's," Crosby wrote. "Now we can focus on healing one another."

Of the 40 men, 38 were victims of Father Kevin Bennett, who was convicted in 1990 of hundreds of sexual assaults.

From 1962 to 1989, Bennett used liquor, money and threats to abuse boys and keep them quiet. He served four years of a nearly 20-year prison sentence and now lives on a church pension in the region. One other priest was convicted of sexually abusing one of the victims. The allegations against a third have not been proven in court.

Geoff Budden, whose client came forward in May with the new allegation of abuse, said he doesn't expect to appeal.

"I still believe there's some serious flaws with the process but we'll work with it and continue the fight another day," Budden said.

Budden said he will file a separate civil lawsuit in the coming weeks against the priest and others. Newfoundland has faced several church abuse scandals, the most notorious of which happened at the Mount Cashel Orphanage run by the Christian Brothers in St. John's.

Stack alone has 20 sex abuse civil cases pending against the Archdiocese of St. John's. "We'll be getting down to them in fairly short order now that the path has been cleared with this Bennett case," he said.