L.A.'s Cardinal Apologizes For Abuse

(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.

[barbaraf4]

Have any of you read (or seen the movie) "The Shoes of The Fisherman"? The movie stared Anthony Quinn as a pope who is challenged to unload all the wealth of the Catholic Church and use the proceeds to feed the hungry. It would be worth seeing if it is still in print.

[erasmus6]

Ok, I am not doing very good today and I should quit while I am ahead. The word wasn't "regaining" it was "remaining".:)

[erasmus6]

I apologize for *** up on my spelling of "regaining", not once, but twice!

[erasmus6]

Also my great grandmother was Catholic and back then the priest would call at everyones home and expected them to give food. The thing is is that people didn't have enough to feed their families. One day when the priest came he took their last remianing potatoes and that was the day she renounced the Catholic Church. She did not want to be a part of a religion that would take away their last remaing food so they could not even feed their children.

[erasmus6]

I had neighbors that were Catholic and the money that was sucked out of them from the Catholic church was CRIMINAL.

[grammawhamma]

bo_leggs.....Even if the catholic church is the church that was founded by Jesus....it is now corrupt. I was raised a catholic but saw the light and left the catholic cult and found a decent church.

[oakishpines]

what did the naked lazy iggnorant profane kid say to the spanking authoritys?]

thats assaulting an officer, you all got a gold star, a congressional medal of honor. di d you kno that more than 99 percent of crimes are committed by those age five and less and that more than 99 percent of psankings go to kids age five and less and that over 99 percent of thaose spoankings are rewarded with gold stars? (imaginary ones of course, saves resource sdepletion and enviironment pollution and rhetorical disparityies)

maybe if more people would spank their naked lazy ignorant profane hungrey tired lonely bored scared lusty sad sleepy officars that the worlt wood be a more pervfect etrernity!

we appreciate ewe!

[bo_leggs]

Tucker and the Catholic haters have been having a real heyday lately. It is good that the Catholic Church has been in the news lately so you can have a platform to pontificate from. I don't know where you get your information, but the Catholic Church is The Church that Jesus founded on the Apostles with Peter as it's leader. All of you are certainly "enlightened" geniuses. You spout out your totally screwed-up facts but can't back them up with any real proof. But I understand, this is what pumps you up and makes you feel powerful, and people will look up to you for your genius and insight. Go ahead, spout out your misinformation, and enjoy your 15 minutes of fame. I feel sorry that you are so pathetic that you think you are enlightening the masses. I'll pray for you and ask that someday you will gain true wisdom. My mistake, it's actually 72 hours.

[tuckerndfw]

The best way to become an atheist is to actually read the bible from a critical viewpoint. And, apply logic and common sense to what you have read.

For those who do not have that kind of time on their hands, you may choose to visit www.godisimaginary.com and apply the simple tests offered on that website.

They will lead you to the same conclusion.

DISCLAIMER: I am not affiliated with www.godisimaginary.com in any capacity other than as a visitor. As an atheist, I find its simplicity and accuracy far more efficient (and humorous) than trying to actually read the bible (a very poorly written work), or, trying to make sense of all the mumbo-jumbo (propaganda) promoted by bible believers.

[tuckerndfw]

Here is a summation of the ("Christian") Bible:

God was lonely.

God invented humans in his own image to satisfy his loneliness. (ego?)

After which, he established rules by which humans should operate that he chose to routinely ignore. In fits of childish anger, he repeatedly punished humans for their inability to follow the rules he chose to ignore.

After which, he blamed humans for their inability to follow the rules he chose to ignore.

Eventually, after tormenting humans for an unkown period, he came to earth and killed himself so humans who chose the correct version of the story about his suicide would not be punished in heaven for violating the rules he chose to ignore.

After which, he disappeared from the stage entirely, leaving it up to various humans to demand other humans follow the rules he chose to ignore.

Which culminated in the establishment of tens of thousands of cults, including Catholics, Baptists, Mormons, et al, all following different rules while insisting that all other humans who did not follow their rules would be eternally punished by the God who invented the rules he chose to ignore.

Makes sense to me. . . (hmmm....)