STEPHENVILLE, Newfoundland -- In the hardscrabble fishing villages of this remote island, the Rev. Kevin Bennett was "like a god. He was more important than a cop," and more feared than parents, recalled a former altar boy, who was one of his victims. Dozens of boys kept Bennett's secret as he ordered each into his bed to fondle and rape them.
Now, 16 years after the priest was publicly accused and sent to prison, a $10.5 million settlement reached last month over the sexual abuse claims of 39 former altar boys is causing the Catholic diocese here to prepare to put its churches, parish halls and priests' homes up for sale.
Catholic villagers across this huge, poor swath of western Newfoundland are learning the long reach of these priestly abuses, some committed decades ago. They might lose the tiny parish chapels and meeting halls where relatives and neighbors have long been christened, married, celebrated and buried.
"We always thought we owned the church," said Theresa LaCosta, 78, who lives down the hill from Our Lady of Fatima Church in Piccadilly, a cluster of poor homes with rich views of the emerald hills that plunge into St. George's Bay. She said her husband, now deceased, had badly hurt his back while helping to lay the church foundation. "He had to stop fishing because of it. Now they are going to take the church away?"
As more churches in the United States and Canada grapple with the aftermath of sex abuse claims, anguish similar to that of St. George's diocese might be felt by Catholics far and wide.
"This is a wake-up call for the entire church," said the Rev. Thomas Doyle, a Washington attorney who has counseled many victims and advised them on lawsuits against the church.
Doyle said the Newfoundland case could be "potentially devastating" for dioceses in the United States because Canada's Supreme Court ruled that the Newfoundland diocese owned all of its parishes' property. American dioceses are fighting against having parish churches and property included in settlements against local priests and officials.
"If I were a U.S. diocese, I would be very worried about the Newfoundland case," said Charles Zech, an expert on church finances and a faculty member at Villanova University outside Philadelphia. "All of the parishes are waiting for this issue to be settled."
Claims paid by U.S. dioceses total more than $1 billion, according to a study of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and recent large settlements in Boston, Kentucky and California. Three other dioceses have entered bankruptcy protection to satisfy sex-abuse claims.
"We don't have millions of dollars. This will be very difficult," said Bishop Douglas Crosby of St. George's Diocese. "But we need a just, fair settlement for the victims. This has been delayed too long."
Bennett's victims, now middle-aged, are still wrestling with the personal demons of abuse. One man, 31, whose identity is protected by a court order, paced nervously as he recounted the ruined life he still blames on the priest.
Beginning when he was 13, the man said, Bennett would summon him to his home and beckon him to come close. "It was, 'Wash my feet. Rub my belly. Rub my groin. Lay on my stomach,' " the man recounted. But even as he prepared to testify against the priest, he said, his own father insisted nothing had happened.
