Catholic Church Scandal!
The Roman Catholic archdiocese of
Los Angeleshas agreed to pay $880m to 1,353 people who alleged that they were sexually abused as children by Catholic priests, in the largest settlement by a US diocese over decades-old abuse claims.
Archbishop Jose H Gomez expressed sorrow for the abuse in announcing the settlement on Wednesday.
“I am sorry for every one of these incidents, from the bottom of my heart,” Gomez said in a statement. “My hope is that this settlement will provide some measure of healing for what these men and women have suffered.”
The archdiocese began mediating the abuse claims after California enacted a law that allowed new lawsuits to be based on past instances of sexual abuse involving minors.
The California law and similar laws in other states have driven many large Catholic organizations to seek bankruptcy protection around the US.
In California, the archdiocese of San Francisco and the dioceses of Oakland and San Diego have
filed for bankruptcy to resolve similar abuse claims.
The Los Angeles archdiocese reached its settlement without filing for bankruptcy. Gomez said the archdiocese would be able to pay victims from cash reserves, investments, loans and contributions from other religious organizations that had been named in lawsuits.
The payments will not impact the archdiocese’s mission of “serving the poor and vulnerable in our communities”, Gomez said……..
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news...s-sex-abuse-settlement?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other