OAKLAND (CA)
Contra Costa Times
By Randy Myers
CONTRA COSTA TIMES
The Oakland Diocese will borrow to pay its portion of a $56.3 million settlement of 56 sex abuse lawsuits, a church spokesman said Monday.
On Friday, the diocese announced it had reached a settlement in the mostly decades-old cases involving 13 diocesan priests, seven of whom are dead.
It was one of the largest settlements in the nation, but fell short of the $100 million awarded in 2004 by the Diocese of Orange to settle 87 cases and the $90 million the Archdiocese of Boston paid in 2003 to settle 550 plaintiffs' claims.
The diocese will be responsible for paying $25.3 million with insurance carriers covering the rest, said the Rev. Mark Wiesner, Oakland Diocese spokesman.