UNITED STATES
NorthJersey.com
Monday, June 13, 2005
By ALFRED P. DOBLIN
When the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops meet this week in Chicago for their annual spring meeting, don't expect a media circus. Unlike the bishops' 2002 meeting in Dallas when a burgeoning sex abuse scandal was spreading over every diocese in the nation, new reports of old abuse have waned. But the quiet comes after a damaging storm. The Associated Press released a review estimating more than $1 billion has been spent by dioceses over the past 50 years to settle sex-abuse cases.
It is a staggering sum of money. The Diocese of Covington, Ky., announced it was creating a compensation fund of up to $120 million. The Diocese of Orange, Calif., paid $100 million. And the Archdiocese of Boston - ground zero for the scandal - settled with 552 victims for $85 million.
The Archdiocese of Los Angeles has yet to settle with alleged abuse victims. It is the largest archdiocese in the nation, and the figure could be jaw-dropping. The Paterson Diocese settled for $5 million with 26 alleged victims in February. All told, the diocese has spent an estimated $7.5 million to settle cases of alleged sexual abuse.
Several dioceses have declared bankruptcy. The former archbishop of Boston, Cardinal Bernard Law, was compelled to resign. He landed on his feet quickly and now holds a cushy assignment in Rome. Law even presided over one of the official Masses of mourning for Pope John Paul II.