DENVER — A Colorado reparations program for people abused by Catholic priests when they were children paid more than $1 million to nine of 78 people who submitted claims.
The filing deadline was Friday and 60 cases are under review, The Colorado Sun reports.
One of the independent administrators of the Independent Reconciliation and Reparations Program for the Archdiocese of Denver, the Diocese of Colorado Springs and the Diocese of Pueblo said another $500,000 in payments are due to four other victims.
The reparations program was created through a voluntary agreement between the Catholic Church and the Colorado Attorney General’s Office after a third-party investigation into child sexual abuse by priests in the state’s three Catholic dioceses.
The investigators’ report released in October found at least 166 children had been sexually abused by at least 43 priests since 1950.
Program administrator Camille Biros does not expect other claims to be filed now that the deadline has passed.
“The only way we would be expecting more is if somebody calls and there clearly is a legitimate reason why they couldn’t get it to us on time,” Biros said Tuesday.
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