Maryland bishops say abuse payout bill ‘unfairly targets’ religious organizations
Maryland State House. / Credit: Jon Bilous/Shutterstock Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Mar 28, 2025 / 14:25 pm (CNA).
The Catholic Church in Maryland is urging the state Legislature to treat cases of child sexual abuse in state-run facilities equal to those in private institutions following a proposed bill that would “decrease the number of civil causes of action for child sexual abuse filed against the state.”
The Maryland Catholic Conference (MCC) said in a statement on Thursday that the bill “greatly exacerbates an existing difference in treatment for victims abused in state institutions and those abused in private institutions.”
If passed, the bill would reduce the state damage cap for abuse victims to $ 400,000 while keeping the cap for private organizations at $ 1.5 million.
The “overtly unequal treatment in HB 1378 is not only poor policy for victim-survivors but also unfairly targets nonprofit and religious organizations that have long served children in this state and have implemented strong safeguards for youth protection,” the Maryland bishops said.
The bill is sponsored by state Del. C.T. Wilson, who spearheaded the Maryland Child Victims Act of 2023, which abolished the statute of limitations on lawsuits against public and private entities involved in incidents of sexual abuse. That bill resulted in increased claims against the state.
“The Child Victims Act uncovered a terrible truth,” the Maryland bishops said. “The largest employer of abusers in the state of Maryland appears to be the state of Maryland itself.”
The MCC statement said the reports of abuse within state-led institutions, including Maryland’s Department of Juvenile Services, are mainly from young men and women of color who are the majority of youth placed under the state’s care.
The bishops called the harm done to them “heartbreaking.”
“As a Church that has faced its own painful reckoning,” the statement said, “we urge state leaders to be accountable and transparent.”
The statement calls for specific actions to be done by state leaders to ensure “abuse by state employees never happens again.”
The Church further instructs the government to “seek opportunities for an independent assessment to gain further insight into the history of abuse in state settings” as well as “implement reforms such as stringent safeguarding policies” and “provide survivor-centered support for those who suffered abuse by state representatives.”
But there is “no principled basis for treating victims of child sexual abuse in state institutions differently from those who suffered abuse in private institutions,” the conference said.
