Cardinal Roger Mahony, the leader of Los Angeles’ Catholics, on Sunday apologised to hundreds of victims of predatory priests after the archdiocese agreed to pay $660-million to settle claims of sexual abuse.
The settlement, agreed on Saturday, was the largest since the revelations about sexual abuse within the church surfaced in Boston in 2002, and comes amid allegations that church leaders had helped to shield predators for years.
”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,” Cardinal Mahony told reporters on Sunday after presiding over morning mass. ”I apologise to anyone who has been offended, who has been abused. It should not have happened, and it will not.”
A judge in California will be asked on Monday to approve the settlement between lawyers representing more than 500 people who say they were victims of abuse, carried out by more than 220 priests, teachers and other church employees over several decades.
The court had been scheduled to begin hearing the first in a series of civil cases brought against the church — which could have exposed the church to an even costlier outcome. Cardinal Mahony had been scheduled to testify at one of the trials.
Under the deal, each of the alleged victims — some of whose allegations stretch back 70 years — will receive $1,3-million. The church has also agreed to release priest personnel records following a review by a judge. The cardinal’s apology was not part of the deal, a church spokesperson said.
The settlement is far greater than those reached by jurisdictions in Boston, where authorities paid out $84-million in 2003, and Portland, Oregon, where the archdiocese agreed this year to pay $52-million.
It raises the total the Catholic church has had to pay out to settle claims of abuse to more than $2-billion. The demands for retribution led five dioceses to apply for bankruptcy protection, and forced church authorities to close churches and schools, and sell off property across the US.
Advocacy groups called the deal a vindication for victims of abuse after decades of silence — and in some cases complicity — by church authorities. The Los Angeles Times reported on Sunday that about 75% of parishes in the archdiocese had been served at some point by a priest accused of sexual abuse.
”This settlement was reached on the eve of a trial that would have forced Cardinal Mahony and other church leaders to take the witness stand under oath and tell the court how much they knew and how little they did,” said Barbara Blaine, president of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests.
The settlement also requires the church to release confidential personnel files of priests following their review by a judge. The move is an important concession to activists who say the documents could expose whether church authorities took measures in the past to shield priests.
Unlike other states, judges in California had allowed four people who say they have been abused by priests to seek punitive damages, which could have potentially exposed the church to tens of millions of dollars in payouts.
Big settlements
At least $600-million: Archdiocese of Los Angeles, 2007, agrees to pay to about 500 people
$100-million: Diocese of Orange, California, 2004, pays 90 abuse claims
Up to $84-million: Diocese of Covington, Kentucky, 2006, for more than 350 people
$84-million: Archdiocese of Boston, 2003, for 552 claims
$56-million: Diocese of Oakland, California, 2005, to 56 people
About $52-million: Archdiocese of Portland, Oregon, 2007, agrees to pay to 175 victims, to emerge from bankruptcy protection
$48-million: Diocese of Spokane, Washington, 2007, to pay for about 150 claims, to emerge from bankruptcy protection
$25,7-million: Archdiocese of Louisville, Kentucky, 2003, to 243 victims – Guardian Unlimited Â