The Archdiocese of Washington is challenging the constitutionality of Maryland’s new Child Victims Act. The 2023 legislation took effect in October and lifts the statute of limitations for lawsuits alleging child sexual abuse, much akin to legislation approved in numerous other states. The Archdiocese of Baltimore and the Archdiocese of Washington, which together with the Diocese of Wilmington cover the entirety of Maryland’s Catholic territory, have fought against the legislation for years. In November, the Archdiocese of Washington argued that those accused of child sexual abuse have a “vested right” to legal immunity once the alleged victim turns 38 years old.
Over the past few weeks, Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown has disputed the Archdiocese’s reasoning. Assistant Attorney General Jeffrey Luoma wrote:
We are aware of no Maryland case holding that expiration of a statute of limitations or statute of repose provides a defendant with a vested right. What the Archdiocese asks this Court to rule would be unprecedented and would go against the consensus of federal law and the reasoned opinions of many other states.
The dispute centers on the difference between a statue of limitations and a statute of repose. A statute of repose, generally considered more favorable to defendants than to plaintiffs, sets the clock ticking for plaintiffs based on the actions or establishments of the defendants; for example, a construction company protected by a statute of repose could only be sued for injuries sustained in or working on a specific building starting at a specific date and time and ending at a specific date and time. A statue of limitations, however, allows the plaintiff to file a suit or claim based on when an offense or injury occurred to him. (READ MORE from S.A. McCarthy: In 2023, Nicaragua Was No Place To Be Catholic)
The Archdiocese of Washington is arguing that in 2017 the Maryland state legislature established a statute of repose regarding sex abuse victims and that the General Assembly does not have the constitutional authority to adjust a statute of repose. Luoma responded:
Within its ability to set the time periods during which plaintiffs can file suit in court, the General Assembly has authority to revive causes of action that otherwise would be time-barred. This principle is well-established by federal courts and the courts of many other states and applies regardless of whether the provision effecting the bar is denominated a statute of limitations or a statute of repose.
Legal challenges aside, both the Archdiocese of Washington and of Baltimore have staunchly opposed the Child Victims Act for years. Shortly ahead of the legislation going into effect last year, the Archdiocese of Baltimore filed for bankruptcy, stalling victims’ suits against America’s oldest Catholic diocese and effectively ensuring the expected inundation of lawsuits seeking remuneration for clerical sex abuse would not materialize.
Earlier last year, the Maryland Attorney General’s office released a damning report on clerical sex abuse in the Archdiocese of Baltimore. The nearly-500-page report condemned the Archdiocese’s “history of repeated dismissal or cover up of that abuse by the Catholic Church hierarchy.” A significant portion of the report focused on Archdiocesan leadership’s failure to protect children and discipline, expose, or report abusers. Much of that section was redacted, at the behest of a lobbying group funded by current Archbishop of Baltimore William Lori. The Child Victims Act, which Lori fought against, was passed by the Maryland Senate the same day that the report was released.
The Archdiocese of Washington is hardly a paragon of virtue when it comes to sexual abuse. One of its most infamous former archbishops is the now-laicized ex-cardinal Theodore McCarrick. In 2018, McCarrick was exposed for sexually abusing children and young men, especially seminarians, for decades. During his tenure as Archbishop of Washington, McCarrick was still secretly paying out settlements to victims of his abuse. McCarrick’s successor, Donald Wuerl, was also accused of covering up for McCarrick, and The Washington Post reported that Wuerl was aware of allegations against McCarrick as early as 2004, 14 years before the cardinal’s abuse became public knowledge, when McCarrick was still at the Archdiocese’s helm. (READ MORE: ‘A Simple, Humble Laborer in The Vineyard of The Lord’)
Wuerl himself also has a spotty record of dealing with sexual abuse. A Pennsylvania grand jury’s 2018 report on clerical sex abuse in the state revealed Wuerl failed, as bishop of Pittsburgh, in handling multiple cases of clerical sex abuse. His failures there included quietly shuffling abusive priests to other dioceses, allowing priests to remain in active ministry even after having manufactured child pornography, and covering for a priest even after paying out a $900,000 abuse settlement. After the report’s release, Wuerl defended his record, but then-Attorney General (and now Governor) of Pennsylvania Joshua Shapiro shot back, “Cardinal Wuerl is not telling the truth. Many of his statements in response to the Grand Jury Report are directly contradicted by the Church’s own documents and records from their Secret Archives. Offering misleading statements now only furthers the cover up.”
Wuerl resigned as Archbishop of Washington in 2018, one month after the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops launched an investigation into reports of continued clerical sex abuse in the Archdiocese. (READ MORE: Which Way, Western Man? Satanic Idols or Christian Morality?)
Now, the current Archbishop of Washington, Wilton Gregory, who was identified by the late clerical sex abuse expert Richard Sipe as a homosexual, is adding his name to the roster alongside Wuerl’s and McCarrick’s, seeking to protect the Archdiocese’s pocketbook instead of its children.
