Posted on 07/15/2007 4:43:11 AM PDT by Gurn
LOS ANGELES (AP) - The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles will settle its clergy abuse cases for at least $600 million, by far the largest payout in the church's sexual abuse scandal, The Associated Press learned Saturday.
Attorneys for the archdiocese and alleged victims are expected to announce the deal Monday, the day the first of more than 500 clergy abuse cases was scheduled for jury selection, according to two people with knowledge of the agreement. The sources spoke on condition of anonymity because the settlement had not been made public.
The archdiocese and its insurers will pay between $600 million and $650 million to about 500 plaintiffs—an average of $1.2 to $1.3 million per person. The settlement also calls for the release of confidential priest personnel files after review by a judge assigned to oversee the litigation, the sources said.
It wasn't immediately clear how the payout would be split between the insurers, the archdiocese and several Roman Catholic religious orders. A judge must sign off on the agreement, and final details were being ironed out over the weekend.
Tod Tamberg, an archdiocese spokesman, did not immediately return a call for comment.
The settlement would be the largest ever by a Roman Catholic archdiocese since the clergy sexual abuse scandal erupted in Boston in 2002.
Among the largest total payouts was $100 million in 2004 by the Diocese of Orange, Calif., to settle 90 claims. The Diocese of Covington, Ky., last year agreed to pay $84 million for 552 cases. Facing a flood of abuse claims, five dioceses—Tucson, Ariz.; Spokane, Wash.; Portland, Ore.; Davenport, Iowa, and San Diego—sought bankruptcy protection.
Last month, the Archdiocese of Portland agreed to pay about $52 million to 175 victims, while setting aside another $20 million for anyone who comes forward in the future.
The Diocese of Spokane, Wash., also recently emerged from bankruptcy protection after agreeing to pay $48 million to settle about 150 claims.
speechless.
There may be more to this than meets the eye. Another generation and the Southwest diocese(s) will be subsumed under Mexico City again, as they were originally.
Outright theft.
In most of the cases, I agree.
FYI.
“Outright theft.”
Huh?? The only unresolved outrage is that the church hierarchy gets off scot free regarding CRIMINAL CONSPIRACY amongst the bishops. Decades, and perhaps centuries, of shuffling unreformed pedophiles from parish to parish on a global scale.
Just about posted this. Glad I did a search.
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Please post to this thread -- not the duplicate one on the Religion Forum. Perhaps we can then get this transferred to the Religion Forun.
This diocese ponied up because Mahoney does not want his true level of involvement revealed. Los Angeles is barely recognizable as a Catholic Archdiocese due to Mahoney. This reflects on the cardinal, not the Church.
Absolutely more abuses in the public schools!
**This reflects on the cardinal, not the Church.**
This is so true.
I wonder how many homeless could have been fed with that money. Throw in the cost of the taj Mahony and there’s over a BILLION dollars the LA Diocese has incurred in the name of “progressive” attitudes and liberalism.
Huh?
And every Catholic gets slammed for it
At one level you get aberrant sexual behavior and at another the desire to build monuments in stone and glass .The priests of the Israelites were not celibate and barred from marriage;there is no scriptural reason for the priests of the Church to be so. The men who run the Church will have much to beg mercy for from the One who established it.
**It is my thought that men not allowed to have wives and families look for other ways to satify their desires.**
Think about this.
There are more incidencts of sexual abuse and molestation among teachers than among Catholic clergy.
You only hear about the Catholics because the media hates the Catholic Church.
Likewise they love the NEA and teachers and would never bring such a story out into the light of the people’s eyes through their media outlets.
Just think about it.
Well, duh, since there are 1000 teachers for every priest. But teachers aren't hired for being spiritually upstanding. You can make all the excuses you want, but at some point you have to admit the Catholic church has lost it's way. Most Catholics voted for Clinton. I'm happy to see the conservative Catholics on FreeRepublic, but the majority of Catholics are liberals.
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