L.A.'s Cardinal Apologizes For Abuse
Archdiocese Will Pay $660 Million Settlement To More Than 500 Victims
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Play CBS Video Video L.A. Church Settles Abuse Case In the largest settlement in the Catholic Church's history, the Archdiocese of Los Angeles has agreed to pay out $660 million to alleged sexual abuse victims. Sandra Hughes reports.
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Video Suits Lead To Church Closures The Catholic Church in Boston has been forced to close some local parishes and sell off property, in part due to damage done by multi-million dollar priest abuse lawsuits. Bianca Solorzano has more.
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Video Clergy Abuse Settlement The Archdiocese of Los Angeles will pay a settlement of more than $600 million to end hundreds of trials over accusations of abuse by clergy.
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Members of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, SNAP, protest outside Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels, seat of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, in September 2006. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
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Cardinal Roger Mahony announces that the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles will settle its clergy abuse cases for at least $600 million, the largest payout to date in the sexual abuse scandal. Sunday, July 15, 2007 in Los Angeles. (AP)
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Plaintiff Steven Sanchez poses in his home Saturday July 14, 2007 in Glendale, Calif. Sanchez, who was expected to testify in the first trial, said he was simultaneously relieved and disappointed he will no longer need to testify in the sexual abuse scandal after a multi-million dollar settlement was reached with the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles., Saturday, July 14, 2007. (AP)
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Cardinal Roger Mahony celebrates a Mass at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels in downtown Los Angeles in this May 2006 file photo. The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles will settle its clergy abuse cases for at least $600 million, the largest payout to date in the sexual abuse scandal, The Associated Press learned Saturday, July 14, 2007. (AP Photo/Reed Saxon)
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Interactive Catholic Church in Crisis A timeline of the sex scandals, questions and answers about the church's response and a look at the impact on U.S. dioceses.
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Interactive Children In Danger Warning signs, state-by-state child services information and a history of child welfare reforms.
"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.
© MMVII The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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The secrets of tennis legend 
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See all 124 Commentsthats 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!
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.
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....)
Posted by tucanofulano at 11:59 AM : Jul 16, 2007
You are a big fan of yourself...cool
Posted by mnelsonix at 12:09 PM : Jul 16, 2007
I am a "big fan" of observing the evidence and reaching a conclusion.
Based on my observations, there is no credible evidence to support the belief that Zeus is sitting somewhere in outer space ("heaven") controlling events on earth.
And, if any such entity exists, he (it?) is one of the most cruel and sadistic entities imaginable.
Posted by rfcnj68 at 12:40 PM : Jul 16, 2007
~~
I guess you weren't able to find a mirror before judging us.
Posted by NavyRetired2 at 11:21 AM : Jul 16, 2007
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NavyRetired2, I am sorry you feel offended by the simple truth.
But you make my point.
The only response I have ever received from self-proclaimed Christians is; they either take offense or, when I point out contradictions or unbelievable verses/statements in the bible they say %u201Cyou just have to believe%u201D or that%u2019s not what it means or otherwise twist the words to agree with their faith.
The fact that Christians as a whole cannot allow themselves to question anything in the bible is obvious in their belief that they can and must %u201Cconfess and ask for forgiveness.
Only if you personally believe, unequivocally, that the bible is accurate and god-inspired, do you fit my description of a %u201Ctrue%u201D Christian.
As for me, I think of the Bible as metaphor, prose and poetry. Anyone who claims to have cornered the market on the true interpretation of God's word needs to have their meds evaluated.
It is impossible to claim the true interpretation, because these books were written years (sometimes centuries) after the death of Christ. They have been translated many times; we have no idea who authored some of the books; the books have been censored for content; we have not seen all the books, because it was decided by others what would be included in the Bible.
Politicians and Ministers try to tell you what to think. Start thinking for yourself!
Posted by tucanofulano at 11:59 AM : Jul 16, 2007
You are a big fan of yourself...cool
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