ALBANY, NY (WRGB) — According to the Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany, Bishop Edward B. Scharfenberger is set to make an important announcement at 1 p.m.
While the Diocese has not specified a topic, this announcement does follow in the wake of an $8M settlement in a suit by Michael Harmon, who claimed that Father Edward Charles Pratt abused him from the ages of 11 to 16, when Pratt was the Vice Chancellor of the Diocese. Pratt was removed from active ministry a few years later. The trial was set to begin today.
This is the first such settlement among seven lawsuits that saw the Diocese’s bankruptcy stay lifted to allow for individual cases to go to trial. Attorneys say it’s a step toward resolving more than 400 cases against the Diocese, all stayed and pending in federal bankruptcy court…