PhotoThe Archdiocese of New York has established an independent program that will allow victims of sexual abuse by members of the clergy to apply for compensation from the church, even for abuse claims that are decades old, church leaders said on Thursday. The program will be headed by Kenneth R. Feinberg, who ran the federal Sept. 11 victims fund. The program initially addresses the claims of some 200 abuse victims who have approached the archdiocese over the last four or five decades, in cases involving some 40 priests. To date, only about 30 of those victims have received compensation, church leaders said. The compensation program, in some ways, is the church’s response, which it hopes gives victims a measure of justice and closure.

Source: New York Times October 06, 2016 17:07 UTC