Archbishop Martin: Parishioner money not used to pay abuse-claim costs

A claim that the Dublin Archdiocese is using parish funds to cover the cost of clerical sexual abuse claims has been rejected by Archbishop Diarmuid Martin.

The Irish Catholic newspaper claims the Archdiocese proposed that parishes donate funds from their cash surpluses to help fill a deficit in an account used to pay lawyers fees and compensation for victims of clerical child sex abuse.

Last year, the Dublin Archdiocese ruled out asking parishioners to help fund the multi-million euro costs of the claims.

According to the Irish Catholic, the Dublin diocese has paid €13.5m so far and it is estimated a further €6.34m will be needed to cover the bill from child sexual abuse allegations.

Archbishop Diarmuid Martin said the account in question was used to fund diocesan needs in general, and was not dedicated to the payment of sexual-abuse claim costs. However, he did not rule out the possibility that money from the account could be used to help fund such claims in future.