Catholic Archdiocese Offers Free Sex Abuse Therapy

The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago announced yesterday that it will begin sponsoring free therapy groups for men and women who suffered from sexual abuse as children.

This comes on the heels of its annual report released earlier this month that revealed the Archdiocese paid more than $15.8 million in legal settlements related to sexual abuse in 2008 - bringing its total in claims over the last decade to $80.2 million.

Some of the money paid last year involved suits against Daniel McCormack, a former priest at St. Agatha Church in North Lawndale who pleaded guilty in 2007 to sexually abusing five children. He is now serving a five-year prison sentence.

The Archdiocese says the new therapy groups aren't limited to people who were sexually abused by members of the Catholic church - any victim of sexual abuse is eligible. Starting this month, the groups will meet with licensed counselors for 12 weeks.

A second free program for family members of victims who were abused as children by priests or deacons of the Catholic church will also begin meeting this month. [Trib]