KPLU Local News
(2009-11-25)
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SEATTLE, WA
(N3) -
A key deadline is looming for people in the Northwest who were sexually abused by Jesuit priests. KPLU's Doug Nadvornick has the latest on the bankruptcy case filed by the Oregon Province of the Society of Jesus.
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Bankruptcy was the Jesuits' response last February to the large number of claims for compensation filed by victims of sexual abuse.
Portland Bankruptcy Judge Elizabeth Perris set November 30th as the deadline for people to file new claims.
The aim is to find just how many victims there are. That's not clear yet. But advocates like Robert Fontana of Voices of the Faithful in Yakima, Washington are encouraging victims to get moving. He wants the Jesuits to do more to reach out.
Robert Fontana: "They need to put the pictures of these people who have abused, they need to put them out and they need to do it within the Catholic community, in Spanish and in English. They need to do it especially in the Native American communities."
Fontana says a Yakima law firm is investigating complaints by more than 100 people against retired Jesuit priest John Morse, who lives in Spokane. Other lawyers have filed claims on behalf of hundreds of Alaska Natives.
The Oregon Province oversees priests in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Alaska and Montana.
I'm Doug Nadvornick reporting. © Copyright 2012, N3
