Archbishop criticizes bills removing time limits on sex abuse suits

Published: 2008-01-25

MADISON, Wis. (CNS) -- Two bills before the Wisconsin Legislature that would expand or remove the statute of limitations for child abuse cases "will kneecap or even eliminate" church ministries to the needy and punish innocent Catholics for years to come, Archbishop Timothy M. Dolan of Milwaukee told a state Senate committee Jan. 16. The archbishop was among several witnesses speaking out against the proposed legislation at a public hearing in Madison by the Senate Committee on Judiciary, Corrections and Housing. The Senate bill, SB 356, and its counterpart in the Assembly, AB 651, would repeal the statute of limitations for all future civil suits filed by childhood sexual abuse victims and open a three-year grace period for filing lawsuits now barred by current statute of limitations. Wisconsin increased the statute of limitations for child abuse crimes in 2004, allowing a victim to bring suit against his or her abusers or other guilty parties until his or her 35th birthday. The Catholic Church had backed that legislation. In his Jan. 16 testimony, Archbishop Dolan said he represented "a church that is ashamed" of past actions by a minority of priests but also "a church that, with the help of its people, has risen to leadership on this issue." "In the past, the church was, at times, an example of what not to do; now we are looked to as a model of what to do," he said.

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