Archdiocese of Los Angeles agrees to pay $880 million to victims of clergy sex abuse dating back decades, lawyer says, single child sex abuse settlement with Catholic archdiocese It was announced on Wednesday that it is the largest ever.
After announcing the agreement in principle, Archbishop José H. Gomez said in a statement that he “deeply regrets each of these incidents.”
“My hope is that this reconciliation will bring some degree of healing to the circumstances in which these men and women have suffered,” the archbishop added.
“We believe we have reached a resolution to these claims that provides just compensation to the survivors who were victims of these past abuses.”
Lawyers for 1,353 people who say they suffered horrific abuse at the hands of local Catholic priests have reached a settlement after months of negotiations with the archdiocese, the Los Angeles Times reported.
The agreement ends a quarter-century of litigation against the nation's most populous archdiocese.
“While no amount of money can replace what was taken from 1,353 brave people who have suffered in silence for decades, there is justice in accountability,” lawyers for the Plaintiffs Liaison Committee said in a joint statement. Ta.
Under the settlement, the plaintiffs will proceed to distribute the settlement proceeds among the participants without going through the archdiocese.
The archdiocese has previously paid out $740 million to victims in various settlements and has pledged to strengthen protections for parishioners, bringing the total amount paid in this settlement to more than $1.5 billion. The Times reported.
Attorney Morgan Stewart, who led the negotiations, said in a statement that the settlement is the largest single child sex abuse settlement with a Catholic archdiocese.
“These survivors have suffered for decades in the aftermath of the abuse. Dozens of survivors have died. They are aging, and so are many of those who know about the abuse within the church. It's time to fix this problem,'' Stewart told the Times.
The settlement will be funded by the archdiocese's investments, accumulated reserves, bank loans and other assets.
The archdiocese said certain religious orders and other organizations named in the lawsuit will also pay a portion of the settlement costs, The Times reported.
