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660-Million Settlement in Priest Abuses
L.A. Archdiocese's Payout
to 508 Claimants Is the Largest in the Sex Scandal That Has Rocked the Catholic
Church.
By Joe Mozingo and John Spano Los Angeles Times July 15,
2007
The Archdiocese of Los Angeles agreed Saturday to a $660-million
settlement with 508 people who have accused priests of sexual abuse, by far the
biggest payout in the child molestation scandal that has rocked the Roman
Catholic Church nationwide.
"Some of the victims have waited more than
five decades for a chance at reconciliation and resolution," said Raymond
Boucher, the main attorney for the plaintiffs. "This is a down payment on that
debt long overdue."The agreement will end all of the pending abuse litigation
against the most populous archdiocese in the U.S.
"It's been a long,
hard slog," said church attorney J. Michael Hennigan. "I'm delighted to see it's
come to a conclusion."Lawyers had been slated to go to court Monday for the
first of 15 scheduled civil trials pitting alleged victims against the
archdiocese and individual priests. Settling before the legal marathon was
considered particularly urgent because the archdiocese faced potential punitive
damages, as well as the prospect of Cardinal Roger M. Mahony having to
testify.
Although the settlement will effectively end a chapter in the
sad saga of clerical abuse that has spanned decades, the resolution will come at
a huge cost to the church. More than $114 million has been promised in previous
settlements, bringing the total liability for clergy misconduct in the Los
Angeles Archdiocese to more than $774 million.
The figure dwarfs the
next largest settlements in the U.S., including those reached in Boston, at $157
million, and in Portland, Ore., at $129 million. Hennigan said the archdiocese
expected to pay $250 million in cash, with the balance coming from insurers and
religious orders."Parish assets will not be touched, and the mission of the
church will be impacted but not crippled," he said.
Mahony had previously
fought victims, their attorneys and prosecutors demanding confidential personnel
files that tracked the problems of accused priests and the church hierarchy's
reaction to them. As part of the settlement, the archdiocese agreed it will no
longer contest the release of files to the public, one of the attorneys in the
lawsuits said. A private judge will mediate any objections from individual
priests.
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