New Archbishop Heals Fractured Diocese
Posted on 07/31/2003 6:12:16 PM PDT by NYer
Just one day after his installation, the new archbishop of Boston has already started making changes.
Newscenter 5's Steve Sbraccia reported that on Thursday, Archbishop Sean P. O'Malley named Boston attorney Thomas Hannigan as lead counsel for the archdiocese. Hannigan will handle the more than 500 sex abuse lawsuits brought by those who claim priests sexually abused them.
Hannigan's work is no stranger to O'Malley, who helped him settle cases involving the Rev. James Porter a decade ago, when O'Malley was head of the Fall River Diocese. In a statement released on Thursday, O'Malley praised Hannigan.
"It is my hope that attorney Hannigan's expertise in facilitating settlements in matters such as this will move the process to a just and timely resolution," O'Malley said.
O'Malley's trust in Hannigan was evident from the start, when he originally brought the attorney into the settlement talks back on July 1, just days after it was announced O'Malley would be the new archbishop.
Hannigan's appointment as lead counsel in the case has pleased some of the attorney's who have been handling scores of sex abuse cases involving archdiocesan priests.
"The very first thing Bishop O'Malley did was to appoint someone who has credibility with victims lawyers, like me, and has track record of resolving cases amicably with our law firm. He is a sincerely compassionate person and is a first rate lawyer above and beyond that," said attorney Eric MacLeish.
Hannigan replaces Wilson Rogers Jr. of the Rogers Law firm in the abuse settlement negotiations. Rogers had a rocky relationship with the victims, even suggesting at one point that the victims themselves could be partly responsible.
The archdiocese said the firm will retain their role as general counsel to the archdiocese to deal with other matters.
Archbishop "Sean" is wasting no time establishing himself as a humble shepherd. God Bless this man!!
Pax et Bonum, Archbishop Sean!
Lol ... there are some good, ethical lawyers out there but you never hear about them. Only the "barracudas" make headlines with their clever legal tactics and grandstanding methods in court.
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