More than three dozen Newfoundland and Labrador men who had been sexually abused by a priest will likely not be fully compensated, their lawyer says.

'They were finally putting behind them this torturous past, embarrassing past,' lawyer Greg Stack says of the victims who await compensation.
(CBC)

The Roman Catholic Diocese of St. George's had sold off many of its properties, including churches that were bought back by congregation members, to help settle a $14 million settlement over abuse committed by priest Kevin Bennett.

But Greg Stack, the St. John's lawyer representing most of the 40 claimants, said the diocese says it cannot pay any more, with only half of the settlement payments complete.

"They're acting very worldly for a spiritual organization," Stack told CBC News.

"They've transferred the title out to new corporations with the money they've raised. So instead of raising money to give to victims, they raised money to protect their own property."

Bennett was convicted in Newfoundland Supreme Court in 1990 and served four years in prison.

The compensation package took years to negotiate, and last year the diocese filed an appeal of the package.

Father Kevin Bennett was convicted in 1990 of sexually abusing boys in southern Newfoundland parishes.
(CBC)

Stack said that an instalment in the compensation package that was due last summer has not yet been received, despite assurances.

"There is no firm indication that they'll ever be paid. It's looking more and more dubious as time goes on," he said.

Stack said if any compensation is ever paid again, he believes it will be small.

Stack said the men involved in the settlement, most of whom were abused by Bennett while he was posted to churches in southern Newfoundland, are disappointed by the latest turn of events.

"They had plans made," he said.

"They were finally putting behind them this torturous past, embarrassing past."

But Father Jim Robertson, who helped co-ordinate the settlement agreement, acknowledges that while there is currently no money to make payments, the church will do its best to pay out the rest of the compensation by the end of 2008.

"We're always optimistic that we'll be able to complete that and we work towards that. That's our whole reason for being, is to honour our agreements as best we can," Robertson told CBC News.

Robertson said several more church properties are expected to be sold soon, which could result in another $750,000 payment being made to victims by March.

Stack said he is not holding his breath over that payment being received by then.

The compensation agreement requires the diocese to make good on its commitments by Dec. 31.

Bennett was one of a series of Roman Catholic priests — and then lay Christian Brothers at the Mount Cashel Orphanage in St. John's — who were convicted in the 1980s and 1990s of sexual assaults.

The charges and trials — as well as a church-led inquiry and a royal commission into an aborted 1970s Mount Cashel police investigation — rocked the Roman Catholic church as well as the criminal justice and social services systems.

J.J. Byrne, who advocated for Mount Cashel survivors and is aware of the struggles to obtain compensation, said parishioners who have helped buy back properties should demand more from church leaders.

"I think it is incumbent on the parishioners to absolutely demand the diocese fulfil its obligation and pay the victims," Byrne said.