By Sandi Dolbee, Mark Sauer and Matt Krasnowski
Union-Tribune
July 16, 2007
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/state/20070716-9999-1n16diocese.html
Los Angeles — Cardinal Roger Mahony apologized yesterday to hundreds of victims who will share a $660 million settlement, admitting he made mistakes in his handling of the clergy sex abuse scandal in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles.
Mahony also said he hopes San Diego Bishop Robert Brom will soon settle some 150 lawsuits.
"Once again, I apologize to anyone who has been offended, who has been abused," Mahony said. "It should not have happened and should not ever happen again."
The Diocese of San Diego now has the largest number of outstanding sexual-abuse claims in the nation.
"I told Bishop Brom recently, I said, 'It is my hope that both us and you have this over with by Labor Day,' " Mahony said. "Of course, we were able to do it and I hope they will soon."
Brom could not be reached for comment, although one San Diego church official said the diocese, which filed for bankruptcy protection in February, will not be affected by the Los Angeles settlement.
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| Cardinal Roger Mahony said yesterday that he has met with dozens of plaintiffs who were victims of sexual abuse by clergy in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles Photo by Genaro Molina |
"The Diocese of San Diego will have to make an independent decision," said Micheal Webb, the diocese's attorney.
In the Roman Catholic Church, each bishop answers directly to the pope and administers his own diocese.
The Los Angeles deal with more than 500 plaintiffs is the largest such settlement in the nation. It was reached just before the first sexual-abuse trial was to begin and is expected to be approved during a court hearing today.
Mahony said the archdiocese, the nation's largest, will have to sell buildings, borrow money and tap investments, but the settlement should not affect parish operations or the church's core ministry.
Under the deal, the archdiocese will pay $250 million, church insurers will pay $227 million and several religious orders will combine to pay $60 million. The remaining $123 million is anticipated to come from the resolution of claims against religious orders that chose not to participate in the settlement. The archdiocese has guaranteed resolution of those 80 to 100 cases within five years.
Mahony acknowledged during a news conference yesterday that the looming trial date helped push the settlement.
Over the past year, Mahony said, he has met with dozens of plaintiffs.
"During this time, I have come to understand far more deeply than I ever could the impact of this terrible sin and crime that has affected their lives," he said.
Mahony said he wished he could erase their years of misery.
"As I listened to so many of these stories, I became more and more determined that we had to get all these cases settled," he said.
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| San Diego Catholic Bishop Robert Brom has offered $95 million to settle about 150 lawsuits alleging sexual abuse by clergy |
Mahony said he now realizes more rigorous steps should have been taken to protect children.
"Sometimes, I honestly reached the bottom," he said. "I didn't know what to do, what to do next. It seemed like everything I tried to do was wrong."
There was no mention of the settlement during the Mass that Mahony celebrated at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels. After the service, several parishioners said they were pleased that the church and victims could put the scandal behind them.
"It's a painful situation. If money is what it takes for people to move on, then that's what it takes," said Paulina Zamudio, 39, of Monterey Park.
One of the people most affected by the settlement was Anthony Almeida, 44, a Los Angeles firefighter and one of the plaintiffs in a lawsuit that was set to go to trial today.
Almeida said he was abused for several years in a parish in Los Angeles' Silver Lake neighborhood by the late Rev. Clinton Hagenbach, who died in 1987. Since then, Almeida has had to cope with depression and rage and has contemplated suicide.
"(Mahony) can write a check, but for me I don't think it's heartfelt," Almeida said. "Why couldn't he have finished this four years ago? Why did he have to use the (legal) tactics he did? He was just prolonging the pain."
However, Almeida said, "I'm grateful it's done and I can move on and get away from this stuff."
News of the historic deal in Los Angeles rippled through San Diego parishes yesterday where Catholics began wondering what impact the huge settlement would have on the local diocese's bankruptcy proceeding and ongoing mediation talks.
While expressing compassion for victims of sexual abuse by priests, some San Diego parishioners questioned why the $95 million that Brom has offered to settle about 150 lawsuits is not sufficient.
Barbara Ann Cooper, who attends Santa Sophia church in Spring Valley, said the diocese's average offer of about $630,000 per victim was "pretty good, because we don't have the kind of money here that they paid in L.A."
"This (settlement) concerns me because this could widen the gap between sides here, provide more contentiousness and further lengthen the (process) as victims will feel vindicated by the success in L.A. and hold out for a much larger settlement," Cooper said.
Webb, the diocese's attorney, maintains that the diocese simply cannot afford to pay victims more than the $95 million offered.
"Bishop Brom has clearly stated what he intends to do and what he wants to do and that is to fairly compensate the victims while not crippling the mission of this church," Webb said Saturday as the first reports of the settlement in Los Angeles were emerging.
Plaintiffs and their attorneys are equally insistent that San Diego is a wealthy diocese and can pay an average of $1.3 million per plaintiff as the Archdiocese of Los Angeles plans to do. In 2004, the Diocese of Orange County settled 90 abuse claims for $100 million – $1.11 million apiece.
| WHAT'S NEXT Diocese of San Diego: Secret mediation talks continue before a federal magistrate. Bankruptcy Judge Louise DeCarl Adler has scheduled a hearing Aug. 23 to consider plaintiffs' request to send some lawsuits back to state court for trials. Archdiocese of Los Angeles: Attorneys for both sides will be in Superior Court today to submit the $660 million settlement deal for judicial approval. |
"I hope this settlement is a wake-up call to Bishop Brom that he needs to step up and make this happen here," said Guy Lowry.
Lowry's lawsuit says he was sodomized as a 10-year-old at Nazareth House, an orphanage and school next to Mission de Alcala, during the early 1970s.
"For (diocese officials) to say there is not enough money here to pay the victims the fair amount paid elsewhere in California is ridiculous," Lowry said.
"If we have to go to trial, it will become much more expensive," he said. "It is not our intention to affect the good people of this diocese, nor the mission of the diocese, but to get a fair settlement and get this behind everybody."
Ann Dunham, a parishioner at the Church of the Nativity in Rancho Santa Fe, agreed with that sentiment.
"I'm so sick of it all; let's find a way to get this settled and be done with it," Dunham said after returning home from morning Mass yesterday.
"I know the case is hugely complex and it's very difficult to figure out just how much money the diocese has. But what I really resent is the attorneys' take of about 40 percent."
At St. Mark's Catholic Church in San Marcos, there was no mention from the pulpit of the settlement during a morning service. Many parishioners said after the Mass that they had not heard of the deal.
Those who had thought it would have no bearing on San Diego's lawsuits.
"I think the bishop in San Diego probably has his own plan," said Kay Tucker.
Tucker was sympathetic toward the abuse victims, but hopes for a resolution that is fair to both them and the church.
Parishioner Joe Sine said he remains somewhat skeptical of the legal morass.
"There's something wrong with this whole thing. How is giving someone (more than a) million dollars going to help them with something that happened 20 years ago?" Sine said.
Victims say the money is the best way to get the church's attention after what they consider years of neglect and cover-up.
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