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	Church at Crossroads North County Times July 17, 2007 http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2007/07/18/opinion/editorials/22_04_567_17_07.txt Los Angeles (CA) — Our view: San Diego diocese in spotlight after L.A. settles its priest abuse claims Following the Los Angeles diocese's decision to pay people sexually abused by priests $660 million, the Roman Catholic Diocese of San Diego, specifically Bishop Robert Brom, is on the hot seat. It's not for us to say whether the San Diego victims deserve the amounts they seek — who can put a price on suffering such unmistakable evil? But it's clear that the embattled Catholic Church is closer today to a conclusion that will change its destiny. Thus far, the San Diego diocese has offered victims a pittance compared to the Los Angeles and Orange County dioceses' settlements, which have, for better or for worse, established a going rate. The San Diego diocese has offered victims $95 million, or $10,000 to $800,000 each depending on the nature of the particular horror visited upon them. It also offered to set aside $3 million to settle future claims. Per person, that averages out to about $630,000 per victim — much lower than the $1.3 million per plaintiff offered to the 508 victims in LA and the $1.1 million offered to each of the 90 victims by the Diocese of Orange County. Plaintiffs' lawyers in San Diego are asking for a $200 million settlement. The San Diego diocese may have to pay far more dearly for its priests' crimes than the $95 million it offered as it ducked into bankruptcy court in February. Sexual abuse isn't a Catholic problem so much as it is a societal, even global, problem. But the Catholic Church does have a special responsibility for the abuse that occurred on its watch. What's more, we expect any cover-ups of crimes to be prosecuted. The Los Angeles settlement brings the church's running tab up to $2 billion in sex abuse settlement money since 1950. One can only wonder what good the church could have done with that money had it not had to compensate for an abuse problem it ignored for too long. The San Diego claims include those against 10 priests who served in North County churches between 1968 and 1994. However they are settled, we are left to lament wasted time, wasted money and worst of all, innocence laid to waste.
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