Michael Whalen said he was abused by a priest as a child.

When the Catholic Diocese of Buffalo offered him a decision of less than $50,000, he said he felt victimized all over again.

"What they offered me just re-victimized me even more because it was insulting. It was very insulting to me my family and to all victims really,'' Whalen said Thursday.

Whalen is one of 13 clergy sex abuse victims represented by attorney Mitchell Garabedian who've already received settlement offers from diocese to compensate for the abuse they suffered. 

Whalen said he rejected the offer he received from the diocese last week because it was below what he considers just payment for his years of suffering.

"It was really low. It was a low number and that's what I don't understand — how they could get to a number for one person and then offer another person hundreds of thousands of dollars,” Whalen said. “Why can't we come to an agreement with one payment for all victims? I would like to know the process and how they get to these numbers.”

Garabedian said he is currently representing a total of 44 people who claim they were abused by priests within the Catholic Diocese of Buffalo, with offers from the church ranging in amounts from $10,000 to $340,000.

Two other victims have recently received other settlments, one for $650,000, another for $400,000. 

Robert Hoatson heads Road to Recovery, an organization that advocates for victims of clergy sexual abuse. He said this points to a continuing pattern of a lack of transparency within the diocese.

"In the New York Archdiocese, Cardinal Dolan took out a loan for $100 million, and yet here in Buffalo we still do not know what monies Bishop Malone is going to use to compensate victims. Bishop Malone, how much money is being allocated for victims," Hoatson asked.

Following the press conference, Kathy Spangler, a spokesperson for the diocese, clarified that the awards were issued by administrators of the Independent REconciliation and Compensation Program and are not settlement offers from the diocese. She added that the diocese is bound by confidentiality and would not be commenting on specific claims. 

Hoatson also questioned whether the judges hired by the diocese to administer the compensation program – former state Surrogate Court Judge Barbara Howe and former state Supreme Court Justice Jerome Gorski – are qualified.

"Have they been trained in dealing with the sensitive subject of settling cases with people whose lives have been ruined literally by clergy sexual abuse," he asked.

Whalen said he will consider suing the diocese if state lawmakers pass a bill that would allow childhood sex abuse victims an opportunity for civil redress in state courts that hasn’t existed under the current statute of limitations on abuse cases.  

Garabedian wants to see the statute of limitations modified for sexual assault cases in addition to demanding the Catholic Diocese of Buffalo release all documentation relating to accusations of priest sexual abuse. With 288 Diocesan priests and 97 religious order priests currently listed within the Catholic Directory, “the number of sexual abuse victims who have not come forward is unquestionably enormous.”

Hoatson and Garabedian also continue to call for Bishop Richard Malone to resign, something Malone refuses to do or consider. Malone said his resignation would “exacerbate instability.”