This article is not legal advice. It is presented
for informational purposes only.

A New York woman recently added her lawsuit to the growing litigation filed over the ongoing Catholic sex abuse scandal.

The plaintiff, Gloria H., alleges that she is a victim of rape and sexual abuse committed by leaders of the Catholic Church when she was a child living in Mississippi. Since her alleged rape and abuse at her all-girls Catholic school, Gloria says she has suffered serious emotional and psychological injuries.

According to the lawsuit, one Rev. Cawley—a priest ordained by the Catholic Church and working at Gloria’s all-girls Catholic school in Missisippi—sexually assaulted Gloria in a classroom on campus.

The lawsuit was filed against the Holy See, or the episcopal jurisdiction of the Catholic Church in Rome, which is the central government of the Church. It is often referred to as the Vatican, although the Vatican City State is a related but separate entity.

The lawsuit was filed over the terrible sex abuse that has occurred at the hands of countless leaders of the Catholic Church, and the church’s failure to control its agents. The lawsuit alleges not just negligence, but even “a pattern of serious personal injury and accompanying fraudulent concealment, obstructive behavior and decades long plot to avoid the legal consequences of its conduct in the United States.”

According to the lawsuit, the Catholic Church had a responsibility to control its agents and leaders and ensure that children in their care, like Gloria, were safe.

“Rather than safeguarding and protecting the Plaintiff and others like her who were children at the time of their rape and sexual abuse, the Holy See has engaged in decades of extraordinary schemes and clandestine plots aimed at protecting the very criminals who routinely and with impunity raped and sexually abused minor children throughout the United States and the world,” the complaint reads.

Background of the Catholic Sex Abuse Scandal

In recent years, the horrors of Catholic church sex abuse—and its systematic cover up by the organization’s leadership—have been gradually revealed, and more and more victims are coming forward with their own stories of abuse.

A grand jury report in Pennsylvania, which found evidence of the sexual abuse of more than 1,000 children by about 300 priests, has sparked investigations of the Catholic church in other states as well, including New York.

Another reason for the growing Catholic sex abuse litigation is that New York lawmakers passed the Child Victims Act in January 2019, which gives victims of child sex abuse extra time to sue. Victims now have until age 28 to bring criminal charges against their abusers, instead of the previous cut-off age of 23, and they also now have until age 55 to sue for monetary damages.

Filing a Catholic Church Sex Abuse Lawsuit

If you or someone you love has suffered because of the Catholic sex abuse scandal, you may be able to file a lawsuit or join a class action lawsuit. Of course, filing a lawsuit cannot take away the pain and suffering caused by sexual abuse, but it can at least help to provide some monetary compensation. Litigation can also help to hold those responsible for this accountable for their actions.

The Catholic Sex Abuse Scandal Lawsuit is Case No. 1:19-cv-02195, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.