L.A.'s Cardinal Apologizes For Abuse

Archdiocese Will Pay $660 Million Settlement To More Than 500 Victims

(AP)  Cardinal Roger Mahony, leader of America's largest Roman Catholic archdiocese, apologized Sunday to the hundreds of people who will get a share of a $660 million settlement over allegations of clergy sex abuse.

"There really is no way to go back and give them that innocence that was taken from them. The one thing I wish I could give the victims ... I cannot," he said.

"Once again, I apologize to anyone who has been offended, who has been abused. It should not have happened, and it will not happen again."

Mahony said that he has met in the past 14 months with dozens of people alleging clergy abuse and that those meetings helped him understand the importance of a quick resolution to the lawsuits.

The settlement will not affect the archdiocese's core ministry, Mahony said, but the church will have to sell buildings, use some of its invested funds and borrow money. The archdiocese will not sell any parish property, he said.

The deal between the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles and more than 500 alleged victims of clergy sexual abuse reached late Saturday is by far the largest payout since the nationwide clergy abuse scandal emerged in 2002 in Boston.

The settlement also calls for the release of priests' confidential personnel files after review by a judge. According to Tod Tamberg, spokesman for the archdiocese, the settlement had not required Mahony to make his public apology.

Earlier Sunday, Mahony presided over Mass at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels in downtown Los Angeles without directly addressing the settlement. The service did include a prayer for victims of clergy abuse.

Mahony and all parties are expected before a Los Angeles Superior Court judge on Monday to enter the settlement into the court record, attorneys said.

"I think for those of us who have been involved in this for more than five years, it's a huge relief," said Michael Hennigan, archdiocese attorney. "But it's a disappointment too that we didn't get it done much earlier than this."

Parishioners reacted with disappointment and relief to the settlement.

Vivian Viscarra, 50, who attends Mass at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels three times a month, said the victims deserve the payout even though it could hurt the church's ability to deliver important services. The amount would average a little more than $1.3 million per plaintiff, although individual payouts will vary according to the severity and duration of the abuse.

"I am disappointed," Viscarra said. "And it's making me re-evaluate my views of whether people in the ministry should be married. People do have needs."

Chris Parra, who attends Mass every Sunday, said she could not help thinking about the settlement when she shook Mahony's hand on the way out of the cathedral.

"Even when I was standing there, shaking his hand, I was thinking about how he's finally going to release the priests' personnel records and I wondered to myself why didn't he do that sooner," she said, holding her baby, Tomas.

Parra said she was upset that her tithing would go toward paying the settlement.

"I still want my children to follow the church's guidelines and foundation because that's how I was raised," she said. "But there's still a lot of healing to be done."

The deal settles all 508 cases that remained against the archdiocese, which also paid $60 million in December to settle 45 cases that weren't covered by sexual abuse insurance.

Under the latest deal, the archdiocese will pay $250 million, insurance carriers will pay a combined $227 million and several religious orders will chip in $60 million. The remaining $123 million will come from litigation with religious orders that chose not to participate in the deal, with the archdiocese guaranteeing resolution of those 80 to 100 cases within five years, Hennigan said.

Standing outside the cathedral, Mary Grant, spokeswoman for Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests, said the settlement did not end suffering for the thousands of victims of clergy abuse.

"This is not over," she said. "Church officials would like to think that this settlement means everything is OK.... But this is not a magic wand."

The settlements push the total amount paid out by the U.S. church since 1950 to more than $2 billion, with about a quarter of that coming from the Los Angeles archdiocese. A judge must sign off on the agreement.

The Los Angeles archdiocese, its insurers and various Roman Catholic orders have paid more than $114 million to settle 86 claims so far.

Several religious orders in California have also reached multimillion-dollar settlements in recent months, including the Carmelites, the Franciscans and the Jesuits.

[silentrain]

I don't think an apology will cover it buddy!!!

[tuckerndfw]

I know, how about the Catholic church hire married men instead of homosexuals to be its rituals leaders?

And, how about the Catholic church ban its leaders from drinking during working hours or when meeting with clients, customers?

How about the Catholic church stop pretending to represent anything other than enriching Vatican City?

[inventagod]

"It should not have happened, and it will not happen again"

This guy sounds sincere, but he is full of hot air. I met priests while in a treatment facility in Arizona. They were absolutely unrepentant, and bragged about their 'conquests'. Their 'bosses' knew they were rapists, and were obviously just moving them around while things calmed down in one location, and then sent them to the next. Evidently, this shell game had gone on for years, with an endless string of ruined lives, and many more to be ruined in the future. Money seemed of no matter to the church, the treatment centers cost $30K/month. If you think the church was not aware that these rapists were moving among your children and wives, you are mistaken...

Are you people nuts,why didnt the abused say something way before money was involed.So many years went by now when money is involed its father ...abused me back in the 70s. Why did they keep going back to that same church.Why even let yourself be alone with the priest if you where being abused,it takes two to tangle.Did the word NO keep your hands off me come into mind.Yes I beleive some where abused,but i also believe many men lied about being abused for the money and came out with there story because of the money.

[formrusmcsgt]

Yes I beleive some where abused,but i also believe many men lied about being abused for the money and came out with there story because of the money.
Posted by bobmarchiano at 06:38 PM : Jul 15, 2007

Nowhere close the the victims over time who complained but were never believed. A kid's word against a priest?

Pedophile priests are surely not just a 20th century occurance....

[erasmus6]

"...and it will not happen again."

Wanna bet? These things always happen again and again and again.

Geez, didntinhale, I think we agree on something AGAIN!

[tuckerndfw]

Yes I beleive some where abused,but i also believe many men lied about being abused for the money and came out with there story because of the money.

Posted by bobmarchiano at 06:38 PM : Jul 15, 2007

So? The Catholic church has lied about it for years, so that would be poetic justice, it seems. And, Catholic church leaders are only in it for the money (and perks such as little boys' pants half off), so that would also be justice.


It has been a well known for years that homosexuals were sent off to be priests. Homosexuality was, until recent times, a crime in most states. So, parents sent their little perverts off to be priests. And, the other perverts welcomed them with open arms and upraised skirts.

But, the fact remains the Roman Emperor and his Senators are well aware their local governors are perverts.

[name_verify]

-----

DNC News Update 2008

Gore's concert to benefit transgender fish mutated by pollution in SF Bay called success by mainstream media.

Jesse Jackson's unity of the oppressed speech about black on black violence in Pelosi's hometown of San Francisco draws crowd of angry queers.

Barak says he's just as much a feminist as Hillary is a negro.

Hillary says Bill can't invalidate her feelings.

Edwards says his poverty tour isn't irrelevant just misunderstoond.

Claiming the US has been in Afghanistan longer than Iraq, and the Afganistan government more incompetent than the Iraq government, the Democrat Party impliments policy to surrender to Al Queda around the globe.

-----

[menofoz]

May 16, 2006
The Catholic Church And Illegal Immigration
The US Council of Catholic Bishops has been heavily invested in passing immigration reform, but interestingly nowhere on its website or its sister site, Justice for Immigration, does it mention tackling the root cause of illegal immigration: the corrupt Mexican government.

If the Bishops have the time and money to set up and maintain websites (one of which sells Justice for Immigration wristbands), distribute literature to congressmen, gather and distribute selected statistics as talking points to parishes and contact the media to forward their agenda, why can't they travel to Mexico and work with their counterparts there to draw attention to the real problem? Why isn't reform of Mexico a priority?

Mexican citizens wouldn't be crossing the border if the Mexican government wasn't neglecting its citizens. Why is our country evil and in need of reform when we're the ones who are providing free education, free healthcare and jobs to another country's citizens?

But as is typical of the Catholic Church, its priests, who have no children of their own, who pay taxes only on a stipend and who don't have any economic sense, view every world problem as ours. The solution is always that the US should throw money at the problem.

[menofoz]

May 16, 2006

The Catholic Church And Illegal Immigration
The US Council of Catholic Bishops has been heavily invested in passing immigration reform, but interestingly nowhere on its website or its sister site, Justice for Immigration, does it mention tackling the root cause of illegal immigration: the corrupt Mexican government.

Conveniently they ignore the very wealthy and government in Mexico, who have the means to reform their country, but refuse to do so. By supporting amnesty, the Catholic Bishops reward Mexico's government and wealthy elite by taking them off the hook and putting the middle class in this country on it.

KEEP THOSE DONATIONS POURING IN ISN'T NICE TO KNOW THE CHRUCH HAS OVER 250 MILLION DOLLARS LAYING AROUND FOR PAYOFFS

The settlements push the total amount paid out by the U.S. church since 1950 to more than $2 billion, with about a quarter of that coming from the Los Angeles archdiocese. A judge must sign off on the agreement.

[shanev137]

The Catholic Church = "The Great Wh~ore" in the Book of Revelation.

[formrusmcsgt]

Here in Vegas we have a priest who, a few months back, bashed a women from the choir over the head with a wine bottle with the intent of raping her while she was out.

She didn't go out however, he panicked, left town and traveled to CA and AZ before he was apprehended and returned.

He claimed he wasn't on the lam, just sight-seeing after the attack.

His holy butt is now in Clark County's jail awaiting trial.

[formrusmcsgt]

Considering that there is no shortage of data confirming official policy from the Vatican on down that pedophiles were to be moved to other parishes rather than exposed and removed, I've never understood why R.I.C.O. statutes have not been employed against the churh by the feds.

I assume that they fear the rath of the millions of American Catholics should they do so......

[donnie900]

Unbelievable. He shouldn't of given in. They made it all up. There was no pedophelia in the Church.

[formrusmcsgt]

There was no pedophelia in the Church.
Posted by donnie900 at 07:45 PM : Jul 15, 2007

Then why would the church pay out hundreds of millions rather than defend itself?

[dudester4]

Hey;

Depending on your source, between 1 and 2% of catholic priests are involved in some type of scandal. It's not fair to blame either ALL priests, or the church at large for the actions of a few.

This is a good record, considering all the good the church does in helping the poor, homeless, and aged.

Compare these rates to another, large bureacracy, say Congress, and see what you find.

[dudester4]

Hey;

Depending on your source, between 1 and 2% of catholic priests are involved in some type of scandal. It's not fair to blame either ALL priests, or the church at large for the actions of a few.

This is a good record, considering all the good the church does in helping the poor, homeless, and aged.

Compare these rates to another, large bureacracy, say Congress, and see what you find.

[formrusmcsgt]

Depending on your source, between 1 and 2% of catholic priests are involved in some type of scandal. It's not fair to blame either ALL priests, or the church at large for the actions of a few.


Posted by dudester4 at 07:55 PM : Jul 15, 2007

No, but it is fair to blame the church itself for its official policy of shuffling pedophiles from parish to parish rather than exposing and removing them.

It's called CONSPIRACY and, AIDING AND ABETTING.

[nothappyatall]

"KEEP THOSE DONATIONS POURING IN ISN'T NICE TO KNOW THE CHRUCH HAS OVER 250 MILLION DOLLARS LAYING AROUND FOR PAYOFFS"

ins't it 'nice' how their handy dandy INSURANCE will cover half of the $600M for them? that means they will learn nothing and all will continue as before because the insurance will cover their hypocritical butts.

[soldat44]

Here in Vegas we have a priest who, a few months back, bashed a women from the choir over the head with a wine bottle with the intent of raping her while she was out.

She didn't go out however, he panicked, left town and traveled to CA and AZ before he was apprehended and returned.

He claimed he wasn't on the lam, just sight-seeing after the attack.

His holy butt is now in Clark County's jail awaiting trial.

Posted by formrusmcsgt at 07:14 PM : Jul 15, 2007

So what's your point?

Try Googling for protestant ministers and lay people for *** abuse. Here is a start:

http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/06/14/america/NA-REL-US-Protestants-***-Abuse.php


"More than 260 *** abuse cases reported annually to insurance companies by Protestant churches in U.S." Great read.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19235150/

http://www.courttv.com/archive/news/2002/0404/protestants_ap.html

http://exchristian.net/2/2006/12/clergy-***-abuse-widespread-across.html

And on and on and on...

Peace be with you.

[soldat44]

"KEEP THOSE DONATIONS POURING IN ISN'T NICE TO KNOW THE CHRUCH HAS OVER 250 MILLION DOLLARS LAYING AROUND FOR PAYOFFS"

ins't it 'nice' how their handy dandy INSURANCE will cover half of the $600M for them? that means they will learn nothing and all will continue as before because the insurance will cover their hypocritical butts.
Posted by newster1 at 08:11 PM : Jul 15, 2007

What do you care? You're not Christian anyway.

BTW - Protestant churches have ***-abuse insurance also:
http://www.beliefnet.com/story/220/story_22022_1.html

Peace be with you. This isn;t just a Catholic Church problem. This happens with other churches, school districts, day-care, Youth Groups, etc. They are all guilty of turning a blind eye and moving staff around.

Peace be with you.

[formrusmcsgt]

So what's your point?
Posted by soldat44 at 08:17 PM : Jul 15, 2007

My point is that there are all kinds of dementeds in priest's, pastor's and minister's garb.

[tuckerndfw]

considering all the good the church does in helping the poor, homeless, and aged.

Posted by dudester4 at 07:59 PM : Jul 15, 2007

You have got to be kidding.

Haiti (80% Catholic) and Mexico (77% Catholic) do not seem to be receiving much benefit by all that "good."

[shanev137]

How many mouths could $600 million feed? What a waste.

[soldat44]

My point is that there are all kinds of dementeds in priest's, pastor's and minister's garb.
Posted by formrusmcsgt at 08:23 PM : Jul 15, 2007

You forgot khaki, police blue, white shirt and ties, tank tops, denim, camo, etc. Rich, poor, middle incomes - all education levels and believe it or not, most of them MARRIED with Children. I know because I work for the federal court.

Peace be with you.

[photogeezer]

Father O'Malley, don't diddle the little boys, ya hear? Ya wouldn't want ta see the church's gold bein' sold on eBay, would ya now?

[retmilspouse]

I know, if you are not a victim of the abuse, quit making judgements on something you know nothing about.

[hungry1968]

You forgot khaki, police blue, white shirt and ties, tank tops, denim, camo, etc. Rich, poor, middle incomes - all education levels and believe it or not, most of them MARRIED with Children. I know because I work for the federal court.

Peace be with you.
Posted by soldat44 at 09:00 PM : Jul 15, 2007


If these scumbags can accumulate this much cash just laying around in reserve, then I say that the least they can do is start paying both income and property taxes.
Also, the covering up of child molesters by the top administration of the church is nothing short of criminal. They should all be jailed along with the scumbag priests - you know until Bush pardons them unconditionally before they serve a day in jail.

[soldat44]

f these scumbags can accumulate this much cash just laying around in reserve, then I say that the least they can do is start paying both income and property taxes.
Also, the covering up of child molesters by the top administration of the church is nothing short of criminal. They should all be jailed along with the scumbag priests - you know until Bush pardons them unconditionally before they serve a day in jail.
Posted by hungry1968 at 09:22 PM : Jul 15, 2007

?

[zertrat]

Hundreds of kids and other victims have come forward. Can you imagine the thousands that are out there?, totally screwed up because their priest abused them? The Catholic Church is a machine for the sexual molestation of innocents. As shanev137 writes, "How many mouths could $600 million feed? What a waste." I work in Africa. The amount of money being bantered around to cover fundamentally, profoundly, illegally wrong sexual activity is astonishing. That kind of money could save so may lives, educate so many people, contribute to so much scientific and medical knowledge. What is this money for? To cover up ******** and worse. Any of you making excuses have no excuse. Get of the drug of Catholocism. Get off the drug of religion. Learn that learning is the future of the human race, if there is a future at all.

[hungry1968]

I know, if you are not a victim of the abuse, quit making judgements on something you know nothing about.
Posted by retmilspouse at 09:21 PM : Jul 15, 2007


Let me see if I have this right - you've determined that we shouldn't be allowed to have an opinion on something?
By using that logic, I've determined that you shouldn't have an opinion about my opinion.

[zertrat]

"I apologize to anyone who has been offended"

Great, thanks!

How can rightwingers think that this kind of fundamental abuse of power, immoral activity, cover-up, eventual financial payoff, is something that does not impact their religious views?

Give it up, Catholics. This is religion of deceit and power, hubris and hedonism. There is no god here. Look closely, and you will all see, there is no god here at all.

[soldat44]

Give it up, Catholics. This is religion of deceit and power, hubris and hedonism. There is no god here. Look closely, and you will all see, there is no god here at all.
Posted by zertrat at 10:10 PM : Jul 15, 2007

"Get behind thee Satan"

[mgpm-2009]

There are bad people in every institution. It doesn't mean the institution is, in itself, bad.

The Catholic Church is the Church founded by Christ himself and the gates of hell will not prevail against it, however much they try.

I'm not proud of what the individuals did that perpetrated crimes against innocents, nor am I proud of those that covered it up. But the Church has wonderful people in it. The are many, many faithful and good priests, nuns, and lay people...many more good than bad.

[johnshaft4]

Got, 'boy', ****, pedophile "priests"?

[zertrat]

"I apologize to anyone who has been offended" Great, thanks! Swell.

There is little justice in this land. This is not a country in which there is separation of church and state. A black guy from St. Louis humming on the genitals of a kid would be locked up forever. For-florcking-forever! If not killed. Catholic priest?, not problem. Pay it off. Six hundred million? Less than a dollar a ***.

Give it up, Catholics. This is a religion of deceit and power, hubris and hedonism. There is no god here. Look closely, and you will all see, there is no god here at all. How can you live with yourselves? You are all complicit.

[soldat44]

How many mouths could $600 million feed? What a waste.
Posted by shanev137 at 08:41 PM : Jul 15, 2007

India for ONE DAY...

[mgpm-2009]

Giving up when things are difficult may be for you zertrat, but people who have faith never give up.

[hungry1968]

Giving up when things are difficult may be for you zertrat, but people who have faith never give up.
Posted by mgpm at 10:24 PM : Jul 15, 2007


Have faith in what? A book of fairy tales? A man you've never seen? A bunch of unreal stories passed down from generation to generation? Where are the artifacts like the stone tablets that moses carried? The Ark?

Do you have faith in history? Then look up "robber baron", "crusades", and "child molesting priests" to find out what the Christian church is really all about.

[zertrat]

Exactly.

People of faith plow on in ignorance. Complicity to crime. Narrowmindedness. Yes, good people are involved in the Catholic Church. But think how much better their lives would be served working for groups outside the corruption and evil of the church that pays a little good money, pays millions of dollars, beyond our conception, to cover up the immoral crimes of dirty priests praying upon defenseless children. You should be ashamed of yourself. Anyone who defends the church is dirty. Yes, there are good people in the church. Let me tell you this simple, clear and unambiguous FACT. There are are higher proportion of good people outside the church.

[zertrat]

Hey, Hungry,

How many of these posters can actually believe that supporting bugging of kids is a good thing? The pope announced in the last few days, weeks, whatever, that the catholic church was the one and only true one church. Exclamation point. Did they talk to the Hopis? did they talk to the Ethiopian Orthodox christians that predate the catholic church? Did they negotiate with the Buddhists? The Muslims? (what variety of muslims, seems americans don't know much about that). Did they learn ANYTHING AT ALL about the world? Of course not. Their view can but summed up like this:

"I ain't thought nothin since i was 8, or 9 years old." Very sophisticated.

And understanding the original divergence of Christian sects seems to be a critical point for these folks who claim they know what is going on religiously. Haw haw.

[jegibbons]

This is the SIN/CRIME that continues on replicating again and again for many generations. The full extent of all the harms done will never be tallied. The money is the one way to force some remorse.

Personally, I am incensed by the continued obstruction and cover-up, not only because it prevents these criminals from prosecution and prison but because it harms every person of faith.

These church leaders continue to demonstrate a brazen lack of remorse. Apologies are not enough. They still don't get it. STOP the cover up!

[zertrat]

Here we are. Very simple.

Commit to the Catholics and all their nasty sexual history, their abstinence claims, their power-hungry efforts to dominate international political affairs, or do this instead. Send your kids to college. Radical!! Have them trained as theologians, or scientists, or artists. Anything, please!!! I'm not against theologians at all; I'm against florking idiotic supposedly religious folks who have never taken the initiative to learn anything at all about their own religious histories, and that of the rest of the world. The religious posts on this and any other site proves that religious folks are idiots.

End the cycle. Educate your own children.

[zertrat]

I just want to highlight a simple thing.

You religious zealots would be out of your mind if someone, an anonymous type of person, sexually abused a Christian minor in your community.

But you are defending not one case of sexual abuse, but the abuse of SEVERAL FLORKING HUNDREDS, and that reflects only the victims that come forward, which law enforcement teaches us is a minority. I can only imagine your pig-headed blindness has to do with the overwhelming magnitude of the crime. In other words, you can understand one crime at a time, but gazillion hideous crimes you can excuse because it is beyond your intellectual capacity to understand. Yes, I'm saying you are mentally biased. [that was the most polite phrase i could invent!!]

You Catholic folks are sad, pathetic. Search within yourselves. You have been pawns. Pawns. Evil powerful men are manipulating you? Sounds political? If you do not realize it is real you are really more pathetic than i even think. And believe me, that is at a really really low level. You each know you are pawns. Get over it. Break out.

[cathlcsrsick]

LOOK at the stupified expression on this insincere worm. What an idiot, what a fu(king scumbag lower than worm $h1t PIG.

FU(K you catholic religion, you cult, you political greedy creeps, you frauds, you filth.

[zertrat]

Families with good intentions are tithing the church to support blwjobs on children by priests.

I feel sympathy for all the families sucked in by this scam. Can you folks not see that the hierarchy is more concerned with covering up blwjobs financially than with morality or with families? I'm an evidence type of guy. Give me evidence that the church wants to get rid of sexual perverts. Have i seen any news item related to that topic?

Power always abuses individuals. I send my sympathies to all the Catholic families who believe in their heart that the church is doing right for them. God, that is sad to hear. So wrong, so wrong. How much money have you payed to the church? How much of that is part of the $660 million spent on child ***?

[zertrat]

Families with good intentions are tithing the church to support blwjobs on children by priests.

I feel sympathy for all the families sucked in by this scam. Can you folks not see that the hierarchy is more concerned with covering up blwjobs financially than with morality or with families? I'm an evidence type of guy. Give me evidence that the church wants to get rid of sexual perverts. Have i seen any news item related to that topic?

Power always abuses individuals. I send my sympathies to all the Catholic families who believe in their heart that the church is doing right for them. God, that is sad to hear. So wrong, so wrong. How much money have you payed to the church? How much of that is part of the $660 million spent on child ***?

[ringading3]

People who hate the Roman Catholic Church can vent their rage all they want, freedom of speech is our right. As a Catholic I am not disturbed by their vile remarks and historically this is not new. The first anti-Catholics really meant business, they fed us to the lions, and crucified the first Pope upside down. Now that was when things were really bad! Finally the Bishops have taken a stand and all Catholics applaud their current stand in this abuse scandal. This is truly a shameful time in the history of the Church, but the Roman Catholic Church will survive. Let us all pray for the victims and support every effort to help all who have suffered sexual abuse.

[mizpah63]

"Once again, I apologize to anyone who has been offended, who has been abused. It should not have happened, and it will not happen again." Cardinal Roger Mahony.

Cardinal Mahony, what steps are you taking to prevent abuse by Cathlic clergy in the future?

[mizpah63]

Typo: make it Catholic