Judge dismisses lawsuit

Acting Supreme Court Justice Christian F. Hummel has dismissed the Albany Roman Catholic Diocese and Bishop Howard J. Hubbard as defendants in a lawsuit filed by attorney John Aretakis.

In an eight-page decision, Judge Hummel wrote that "none of the allegations in the amended complaint constitute a cause of action." Moreover, the court noted, Attorney Aretakis failed to submit papers in opposition to the Diocese's motion to dismiss the lawsuit.

Mr. Aretakis represents a man identified in court papers only as Jack Doe and his parents. They allege that the man was sexually abused by a priest in the 1970s when he was a teenager. The Diocese investigated the allegation. As a result, the Diocese removed the priest, Rev. John Bertolucci, from ministry and apologized to the victim and his family.

Mr. Aretakis filed a lawsuit alleging that the Diocese sought to intimidate the victim and his family into not filing sexual abuse charges.

Judge Hummel wrote that New York law requires that "a court must liberally construe the pleading most favorably to the plaintiff...in doing so, however, a court need not accept as true legal conclusions that are inherently incredible."

Kenneth Goldfarb, spokesperson for the Albany Diocese, said, "At the time the lawsuit was filed, the Albany Diocese said the allegations were without merit. We apologize and offer assistance to all those who have suffered sexual abuse by priests. We believe the court ultimately will recognize that there was no attempt by the Diocese to intimidate anyone in this matter."

The Albany Diocese has a zero-tolerance policy for sexual abuse by clergy. No priest is permitted to remain in public ministry if an allegation of sexual abuse at any time has been substantiated.

In an interview with The Evangelist, Mr. Goldfarb noted that Bishop Hubbard and the Albany Diocese had been added as defendants in the lawsuit in April, and that the Diocese filed a motion to dismiss them from the suit in June.

According to Mr. Goldfarb, Mr. Aretakis then asked for an extension of time to respond to the motion. He was granted until July 16 to file opposition papers, but he did not do so. Mr. Aretakis asked for another extension, but diocesan attorney Michael Costello denied the request.

Later, Mr. Aretakis told local media outlets that he asked for the second extension because a relative had died. However, Mr. Goldfarb told The Evangelist that Mr. Aretakis made no mention of a relative's death in his formal letter to Mr. Costello about the extension.

Regarding the dismissal of the lawsuit, Mr. Goldfarb said that "it is helpful to know the judge recognized there isn't a cause of action here against the Bishop or the Diocese."

On July 25, a motion was also filed to dismiss Rev. Kenneth Doyle, diocesan chancellor for communications, from the lawsuit.

(7/31/03) [[In-content Ad]]