LOS ANGELES (CA)
The Mercury News
By Nick Madigan
New York Times
LOS ANGELES - Twenty-six years after he was sexually abused by a priest, there is still a catch, almost imperceptible, in Max Fisher's voice when he talks about it.
The man who assaulted him is dead, but Fisher said Tuesday that he feels a measure of vindication only now that he -- and 89 other plaintiffs who contended they were abused by Roman Catholic priests and other church employees in Orange County -- have received a public apology from a bishop.
Fisher said that for him, the apology, from Bishop Tod D. Brown of the Diocese of Orange at a court hearing Monday, trumped the announcement of a record $100 million settlement between the diocese and the 90 plaintiffs who came forward to say they were abused in the county's parishes, in some cases decades ago.
``I'm more pleased with the fact that I got what I was after, which wasn't money, but an apology from the church,'' Fisher, 40, said by telephone. ``The bishop pulled me aside and said, `I'm deeply sorry that this happened.' That meant more to me than anything.''
The $100 million sum announced Monday is the highest paid by a diocese in the United States to settle sexual-abuse cases. It surpasses the Archdiocese of Boston's agreement in 2002 to pay $85 million to 552 plaintiffs, and may have the effect of increasing the amount of money in play as the Archdiocese of Los Angeles struggles to settle 544 claims against it for similar abuses.
Posted by kshaw at January 5, 2005 06:49 AM