Cardinal in L.A. offers an apology/L.A. Archdiocese to Pay $660M for Abuse/Los Angeles Catholic church agrees $660m settlement over abuse claims
Cardinal in L.A. offers an apology
By Gillian Flaccus
Copyright © 2007, Chicago Tribune and The Associated Press
Published July 16, 2007
LOS ANGELES -- Cardinal Roger Mahony, leader of the nation'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," he said. "The one thing I wish I could give the victims, I cannot.
"Once again, I apologize to anyone who has been offended, who has been abused. ... It should not have happened and should not ever 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 what he called a "terrible sin and crime." 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. It will not sell any parish property, he said.
"We gather today because this long journey has now come to an end, and a new chapter of that journey is beginning," Mahony told reporters.
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 celebrated mass at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels without directly addressing the settlement. The service included a prayer for victims of clergy abuse.
Chris Parra, who attends mass every Sunday, said she couldn't help thinking about the settlement when she shook Mahony's hand on the way out of mass at 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.
Under the latest deal, the archdiocese will pay $250 million, insurance carriers will pay $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, said Michael Hennigan, archdiocese attorney.
Plaintiffs' attorneys can expect to receive as much as 40 percent of the settlement money for their work.
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."
- - -
For the record
Cardinal Roger Mahony and all parties are expected before a Los Angeles Superior Court judge on Monday to enter their agreement into the record, attorneys said. The deal settles all 508 cases that remained against the archdiocese, which also paid $60 million in December to settle 45 cases not covered by sexual abuse insurance.
L.A. Archdiocese to Pay $660M for Abuse
By GILLIAN FLACCUS
Copyright © 2007, The Associated Press
Published July 15, 2007, 6:30 AM CDT
LOS ANGELES -- Hundreds of people who claim they were abused by clergy affiliated with the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles can expect to be paid more than $1 million each in a $660 million settlement of their lawsuits. The deal, by far the largest settlement in the church's sexual abuse scandal, was reached Saturday, said Ray Boucher, the lead plaintiff's attorney.
The archdiocese, America's largest, and the plaintiffs were set to release a statement Sunday morning and hold a news conference Monday, he said.
An anonymous source with knowledge of the deal placed its value at $660 million, by far the largest payout in the church's sexual abuse scandal. The source spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity because the settlement had not been officially announced.
The amount, which would average a little more than $1.3 million per plaintiff, exceeded earlier reports that the settlement would be between $600 million and $650 million.
Some Roman Catholic orders -- the Servites, Claretians and Oblates -- will be carved out of the agreement because they refused to participate, the source said. The settlement also calls for the release of confidential priest personnel files after review by a judge assigned to oversee the litigation, Boucher said.
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.
It wasn't immediately clear how the payout would be split among the insurers, the archdiocese and several Roman Catholic religious orders. A judge must sign off on the agreement.
The release of the priest documents was important to the agreement, Boucher said, because it could reveal whether archdiocesan leaders were involved in covering up for abusive priests.
"Transparency is a critical part of this and of all resolutions," he said.
Tod Tamberg, a spokesman for the archdiocese, did not immediately return a call seeking comment late Saturday. Previously, he said the church would be in court on Monday.
Plaintiff Steven Sanchez, who was expected to testify in the first trial, said he was simultaneously relieved and disappointed. He sued the archdiocese claiming abuse by the late Rev. Clinton Hagenbach, who died in 1987.
"I was really emotionally ready to take on the archdiocese in court in less than 48 hours, but I'm glad all victims are going to be compensated," he said. "I hope all victims will find some type of healing in this process."
The settlement is the largest ever by a Roman Catholic diocese since the clergy sexual abuse scandal erupted in Boston in 2002. The largest payout so far has been by the Diocese of Orange, Calif., in 2004, for $100 million.
Facing a flood of abuse claims, five dioceses -- Tucson, Ariz.; Spokane, Wash.; Portland, Ore.; Davenport, Iowa, and San Diego -- sought bankruptcy protection.
The Los Angeles archdiocese, its insurers and various Roman Catholic orders have paid more than $114 million to settle 86 claims so far. The largest of those came in December, when the archdiocese reached a $60 million settlement with 45 people whose claims dated from before the mid-1950s and after 1987 -- periods when it had little or no sexual abuse insurance.
Several religious orders in California have also reached multimillion-dollar settlements in recent months, including the Carmelites, the Franciscans and the Jesuits.
However, more than 500 other lawsuits against the archdiocese had remained unresolved despite years of legal wrangling. Most of the outstanding lawsuits were generated by a 2002 state law that revoked for one year the statute of limitations for reporting sexual abuse.
Cardinal Roger Mahony recently told parishioners in an open letter that the archdiocese was selling its high-rise administrative building and considering the sale of about 50 other nonessential church properties to raise funds for a settlement.
A Los Angeles County Superior Court judge overseeing the cases recently ruled that Mahony could be called to testify in the second trial on schedule, and attorneys for plaintiffs wanted to call him in many more.
The same judge also cleared the way for four people to seek punitive damages -- something that could have opened the church to tens of millions of dollars in payouts if the ruling had been expanded to other cases.
Los Angeles Catholic church agrees $660m settlement over abuse claims
By Paul Bompard in Rome
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2007
Published: July 16 2007 03:00 | Last updated: July 16 2007 03:00
In a last-minute pre-trial agreement, the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles has agreed to pay $660m to 552 people who claim to have been sexually abused by clergy.
It is an all-time record for a case of this type, topping the $85m (€62m, £43m) paid out by the Archdiocese of Boston in 2002.
Over the past few years at least six Catholic priests in the Los Angeles area have been arrested for sexual abuse. The settlement was announced by Ray Boucher, one of the lawyers for the victims, who said that negotiations with lawyers for the archdiocese had been arduous and had been in danger of breaking down right up to the final agreement.
The settlement now requires approval by the judge who would have tried the cases to make it legally binding.
Jury selection for the first of the trials was due to begin today. Lawyers for the archdiocese and the alleged victims will be in court this morning, when the judge is expected to approve the settlement.
According to estimates by the Los Angeles Times, the archdiocese owns real estate worth about $4bn. Last December it paid out $60m in another out-of-court settlement with another 40 victims of sexual abuse.
The sexual abuses allegedly took place between the 1940s and 1990s in various parishes within Los Angeles archdiocese.
There is at least one case of a priest who, having admitted he had sexually abused children, was simply transferred to another parish, where he subsequently abused other children.
The first trial was expec-ted to focus primarily on the testimony of 12 plaintiffs, all of whom claim they were sexually abused by Father Clinton Hagenbach, who died 20 years ago. The plaintiff's lawyers had requested that Cardinal Roger Mahony, the archbishop of Los Angeles since 1985, should be among the witnesses.
The agreement will allow Cardinal Mahony to avoid having to testify.
Tod Tamberg, the head of media relations for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, is reported to have refused to comment beyond: "The archdiocese will be in court at 9:30 am."
By Gillian Flaccus
Copyright © 2007, Chicago Tribune and The Associated Press
Published July 16, 2007
LOS ANGELES -- Cardinal Roger Mahony, leader of the nation'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," he said. "The one thing I wish I could give the victims, I cannot.
"Once again, I apologize to anyone who has been offended, who has been abused. ... It should not have happened and should not ever 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 what he called a "terrible sin and crime." 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. It will not sell any parish property, he said.
"We gather today because this long journey has now come to an end, and a new chapter of that journey is beginning," Mahony told reporters.
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 celebrated mass at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels without directly addressing the settlement. The service included a prayer for victims of clergy abuse.
Chris Parra, who attends mass every Sunday, said she couldn't help thinking about the settlement when she shook Mahony's hand on the way out of mass at 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.
Under the latest deal, the archdiocese will pay $250 million, insurance carriers will pay $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, said Michael Hennigan, archdiocese attorney.
Plaintiffs' attorneys can expect to receive as much as 40 percent of the settlement money for their work.
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."
- - -
For the record
Cardinal Roger Mahony and all parties are expected before a Los Angeles Superior Court judge on Monday to enter their agreement into the record, attorneys said. The deal settles all 508 cases that remained against the archdiocese, which also paid $60 million in December to settle 45 cases not covered by sexual abuse insurance.
L.A. Archdiocese to Pay $660M for Abuse
By GILLIAN FLACCUS
Copyright © 2007, The Associated Press
Published July 15, 2007, 6:30 AM CDT
LOS ANGELES -- Hundreds of people who claim they were abused by clergy affiliated with the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles can expect to be paid more than $1 million each in a $660 million settlement of their lawsuits. The deal, by far the largest settlement in the church's sexual abuse scandal, was reached Saturday, said Ray Boucher, the lead plaintiff's attorney.
The archdiocese, America's largest, and the plaintiffs were set to release a statement Sunday morning and hold a news conference Monday, he said.
An anonymous source with knowledge of the deal placed its value at $660 million, by far the largest payout in the church's sexual abuse scandal. The source spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity because the settlement had not been officially announced.
The amount, which would average a little more than $1.3 million per plaintiff, exceeded earlier reports that the settlement would be between $600 million and $650 million.
Some Roman Catholic orders -- the Servites, Claretians and Oblates -- will be carved out of the agreement because they refused to participate, the source said. The settlement also calls for the release of confidential priest personnel files after review by a judge assigned to oversee the litigation, Boucher said.
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.
It wasn't immediately clear how the payout would be split among the insurers, the archdiocese and several Roman Catholic religious orders. A judge must sign off on the agreement.
The release of the priest documents was important to the agreement, Boucher said, because it could reveal whether archdiocesan leaders were involved in covering up for abusive priests.
"Transparency is a critical part of this and of all resolutions," he said.
Tod Tamberg, a spokesman for the archdiocese, did not immediately return a call seeking comment late Saturday. Previously, he said the church would be in court on Monday.
Plaintiff Steven Sanchez, who was expected to testify in the first trial, said he was simultaneously relieved and disappointed. He sued the archdiocese claiming abuse by the late Rev. Clinton Hagenbach, who died in 1987.
"I was really emotionally ready to take on the archdiocese in court in less than 48 hours, but I'm glad all victims are going to be compensated," he said. "I hope all victims will find some type of healing in this process."
The settlement is the largest ever by a Roman Catholic diocese since the clergy sexual abuse scandal erupted in Boston in 2002. The largest payout so far has been by the Diocese of Orange, Calif., in 2004, for $100 million.
Facing a flood of abuse claims, five dioceses -- Tucson, Ariz.; Spokane, Wash.; Portland, Ore.; Davenport, Iowa, and San Diego -- sought bankruptcy protection.
The Los Angeles archdiocese, its insurers and various Roman Catholic orders have paid more than $114 million to settle 86 claims so far. The largest of those came in December, when the archdiocese reached a $60 million settlement with 45 people whose claims dated from before the mid-1950s and after 1987 -- periods when it had little or no sexual abuse insurance.
Several religious orders in California have also reached multimillion-dollar settlements in recent months, including the Carmelites, the Franciscans and the Jesuits.
However, more than 500 other lawsuits against the archdiocese had remained unresolved despite years of legal wrangling. Most of the outstanding lawsuits were generated by a 2002 state law that revoked for one year the statute of limitations for reporting sexual abuse.
Cardinal Roger Mahony recently told parishioners in an open letter that the archdiocese was selling its high-rise administrative building and considering the sale of about 50 other nonessential church properties to raise funds for a settlement.
A Los Angeles County Superior Court judge overseeing the cases recently ruled that Mahony could be called to testify in the second trial on schedule, and attorneys for plaintiffs wanted to call him in many more.
The same judge also cleared the way for four people to seek punitive damages -- something that could have opened the church to tens of millions of dollars in payouts if the ruling had been expanded to other cases.
Los Angeles Catholic church agrees $660m settlement over abuse claims
By Paul Bompard in Rome
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2007
Published: July 16 2007 03:00 | Last updated: July 16 2007 03:00
In a last-minute pre-trial agreement, the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles has agreed to pay $660m to 552 people who claim to have been sexually abused by clergy.
It is an all-time record for a case of this type, topping the $85m (€62m, £43m) paid out by the Archdiocese of Boston in 2002.
Over the past few years at least six Catholic priests in the Los Angeles area have been arrested for sexual abuse. The settlement was announced by Ray Boucher, one of the lawyers for the victims, who said that negotiations with lawyers for the archdiocese had been arduous and had been in danger of breaking down right up to the final agreement.
The settlement now requires approval by the judge who would have tried the cases to make it legally binding.
Jury selection for the first of the trials was due to begin today. Lawyers for the archdiocese and the alleged victims will be in court this morning, when the judge is expected to approve the settlement.
According to estimates by the Los Angeles Times, the archdiocese owns real estate worth about $4bn. Last December it paid out $60m in another out-of-court settlement with another 40 victims of sexual abuse.
The sexual abuses allegedly took place between the 1940s and 1990s in various parishes within Los Angeles archdiocese.
There is at least one case of a priest who, having admitted he had sexually abused children, was simply transferred to another parish, where he subsequently abused other children.
The first trial was expec-ted to focus primarily on the testimony of 12 plaintiffs, all of whom claim they were sexually abused by Father Clinton Hagenbach, who died 20 years ago. The plaintiff's lawyers had requested that Cardinal Roger Mahony, the archbishop of Los Angeles since 1985, should be among the witnesses.
The agreement will allow Cardinal Mahony to avoid having to testify.
Tod Tamberg, the head of media relations for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, is reported to have refused to comment beyond: "The archdiocese will be in court at 9:30 am."
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