In 2009, the catholic archdiocese of Ottawa settled a lawsuit with a victim of molesting priest Dale Crampton. This expense must have been inconvenient for the catholic church (annual income $422 billion). Vicar general Kevin Beach knew where the blame lay:
'I would think that it was at his lawyer's urging that this gentleman decided to launch a lawsuit, rather than communicate with us directly.'
The victim was nonplussed:
'One day he's trying to make me and my lawyer out to be the bad guys (for initiating a lawsuit), and then he's acting like a friend extending an olive branch...
'As much as they preach about forgiveness and doing the right thing, they don't seem very forthcoming in trying to live up to these kinds of things.
His lawyer was equally appalled yet unsurprised:
'The standard replay of the Church is first to vilify the victim. When that runs out of favour with the public, the next step is to vilify the lawyers.'