Austrian diocese refuses to buy silence of abuse victim
February 26, 2010
The Diocese of Graz, Austria, has disclosed that it rejected a man's demand to be paid for his silence about sexual abuse by a Catholic priest, seeing the demand as tantamount to blackmail. Bishop Egon Kappellari said that the diocese would not consider paying the man, who was threatening to write a book about abuse. The bishop drew a sharp distinction between providing help for abuse victims and buying their silence. "We rejected the suggestion that the Church should pay hush money as immoral," he said.
For all current news, visit our News home page.
Further information:
All comments are moderated. To lighten our editing burden, only current donors are allowed to Sound Off. If you are a current donor, log in to see the comment form; otherwise please support our work, and Sound Off!
