Church Settles $50M Abuse Claims In Alaska

Sexual Abuse Charges Against Jesuits By Alaska Natives Spanned Nearly 30 Years

(AP)  A Roman Catholic religious order has agreed to pay $50 million to more than 100 Alaska Natives who allege sexual abuse by Jesuit priests, a lawyer for the accusers said Sunday.

The settlement with the Oregon Province of the Society of Jesus is the largest one yet against a Catholic religious order, said Anchorage lawyer Ken Roosa, who called it "a great day" for the 110 victims.

"These are people who were altar boys and altar servers and altar girls," Roosa said. "These are people who tried to tell their story and in many instances were beaten or told to shut up and told, 'How can you say such things about a man of God?'"

The settlement does not require the order to admit fault, Roosa said. None of the priests was ever criminally charged.

The settlement announcement is premature because some issues need to be finalized, said the Very Rev. John Whitney, provincial superior of the Society of Jesus, Oregon Province, which covers Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana and Alaska.

"When those issues are resolved we will be available for a more complete discussion of the matter," Whitney said in a prepared statement. He described the settlement announcement as "premature and detrimental."

Roosa said issues involving the plaintiffs had been resolved. The only issues that remained were with the religious order's insurer, he said.

Roosa provided The Associated Press with an e-mail sent Friday from Dick Hansen, the lawyer representing the religious order. It reads, "This email will confirm that a settlement has been reached. ... The settlement calls for $50,000,000 to be paid to the plaintiffs/claimants in exchange for releases of all claims against the Jesuit defendants."

In the e-mail, Hansen says he's glad to "put this matter to rest." Hansen did not immediately return a call from the AP seeking comment.

The sexual abuse allegations involved 13 or 14 clerics and spanned nearly 30 years, from 1961 to 1987, Roosa said. The children's ages ranged from 5 years to teenage.

"Despite all this, no Catholic religious leader has yet to admit that problem priests were dumped in Alaska. For our clients, this settlement represents a long overdue acknowledgment of the truth of their stories of abuse, stories that until today were largely denied and belittled by apologists for the abusers," Roosa said.

The Catholic Church first was notified of the Alaska cases of abuse in 2002, Roosa said.

The cases do not include those against the Diocese of Fairbanks, which owned and managed the churches in the villages in rural Alaska where the Jesuit priests were assigned. Those 135 lawsuits have been reduced to 10. Those cases are expected to be mediated in December.

[aggiekat2004]

My boyfriend just sent me a link to this. Everyone abandon the Catholic Church and join the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster. http://www.venganza.org/

[logicanada]

If you were to tally what the Roman Catholic church has payed in hush money over the last decade you would see a figure over 2 billion(yes,with a B)dollars.
Where do they make this money appear from and isn''t it their mandate to use this money in aid of the sick and poor?
NOT!
Organized religions are as righteous as politicians, only more clever.

[bareemperor]

The world will draw a deep breath of freedom when organized religion loses it''s grip on the superstitious.
When all those who believe the church is thinking of your best interests realize your dollars are most important, you are now a true adult.
You will finally begin to think for yourselves.

Oh, and Merry Christmas...

[aggiekat2004]

Now, after reading all of the entries...it is not fair that the church just pays money to the victims, and NOTHING happens to the priests. These kids most likely have severe psychological issues and have dealt with a lifetime of shame. Has anyone actually done a study on the psychological well-being of these children in adulthood? I''d like to know how many end up with substance abuse issues, intimacy issues or who have become child molesters.

[aggiekat2004]

You know...someone may have already said this, but do you think it might be the fact that the Catholic Church doesn''t allow priests to marry? Wait, and they can''t...uh..."spill seed" in other ways because that''s a sin, too. Do you think that they might have some pent-up urges? No wonder so many children have been abused. They are the innocent victims. Shut down the CC. It''s time.

[seven_pesos]

i have a list of 38 republican politicians that have been busted for fraud, obstruction of justice, bribery, perjury, prostitution, etc. since bush took office.

among them are congressman cunningham, senator vitter, vice prez aide libby...

anybody care to see the whole list.

republican party and family value christians...

since these bush repubicans got the power,

the court system had to expand 100 fold.

ha,ha,ha.

[seven_pesos]

i have a list of 147 republican pedophiles and homosexuals that have been busted since bush took office.

among them are ted haggard, jimmy swaggart, senator craig, and congressman tom foley...

this is just a partial list.

does anybody care to see the whole list?

republicans and family value christians...

ha,ha,ha.

better keep an eye on your children when there''s a republican christian around.

ha,ha,ha.

[uscstudent1]

As a Catholic, I can tell you we are not proud of this. Yes, we believe these Priests should be stripped of their robes, and a lot of them are (contrary to what is reported.) However, I am amazed at all the close-mindedness I see in this forum. Demolish the Catholic faith? Seriously? It''s great to see such devout "Christians" who want to judge our entire faith based on the actions of a select few.

Trust me, we are not the only religion that has its problems and embarassments. I''m sure you all can think of at least one person who attends your Church that you would not like to be associated with.

[blondmadison]

At what point do the peoples SHUT DOWN THE CATHOLIC "CHURCHES"???

People can congregate in gymnasiums of the local schools under full video supervision protecting the general publics and their children from any more sick garbage the priests can think of doing.

At 3 a.m. on any given evening, a crowd surrounds the church/es with bulldozers. The buildings get removed and in their place, a beautiful garden is erected.

SHUT DOWN THE CATHOLIC CHURCHES! QUIT SIDESTEPPING WHAT DESPERATELY NEEDS TO BE DONE. QUIT THE COURT CASES, SIMPLY SHUT THEM DOWN! No one needs to take a vote for this.

[blondmadison]

SHUT THEM DOWN, PEOPLES, SHUT THEM DOWN.

Complacency is as dangerous as a sick catholic priest.

HAVE THE CAHOONAS TO SHUT THEIR DWELLINGS DOWN. REMOVE THE BUILDINGS COMPLETELY.

Or, shut your traps with your criticisms and complaints. Your child might be next. That goes for the victims as well as the horrified observers. Money isn''t going to heal anyone. SHUT THEM DOWN. SHUT THEM DOWN. SHUT THEM DOWN.

Duh.