More Than 500 Victims of Roman Catholic Church
By Geoff Whiting
LSU La Reveille
July 17, 2007
http://media.www.lsureveille.com/media/storage/paper868/news/2007/07/17/Opinion/Money.Apology.Cannot.Replace.Victims.Innocence-2924288.shtml
Louisiana — On Sunday, Cardinal Roger Mahony, leader of the Los Angeles Archdiocese, apologized to more than 500 victims of sexual abuse by archdiocese priests.
This apology came the day before jury selection in the lawsuit filed by those victims was set to begin.
It makes you wonder - why settle and apologize now? Were they not sorry enough before to accept responsibility and at least attempt to compensate for the damage they have caused?
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| Geoff Whiting |
It seems like there is some criteria that has to be met before they admit to any wrongdoing.
"Whether you give me a check for $10 or $10,000, where can I take that check and cash it at some place to make me 10 years old again?" said Steve Sanchez, one of the plaintiffs.
"There really is no way to go back and give them the innocence that was taken from them," Mahony admitted during the press conference.
As part of the settlement, the Los Angeles archdiocese had to release documents showing the knowledge and coverup of these actions.
Priests accused of such misconduct were sent to therapy, transferred to other parishes, or simply took sick leave.
The most disturbing part is many were allowed to continue as ministers for years after these accusations.
The archdiocese handed over proof that they knew about this, and that they've known about these allegations.
Along with an apology, Mahony gave some details about the $660 million that will be paid to the plaintiffs.
Nearly $227 million will come from insurance and $60 million will come from Catholic orders named in the complaints.
Still, $373 million will come from the church.
While the church had to sell some buildings to help raise this money, I'm sure not getting taxed on your income helped them out a bit.
Mahony admitted not everyone is going to be "satisfied" with the outcome, though he added that these complaints have led and are leading to reforms within the church, including attempts to protect parishioners from future abuse.
"Even though I can't restore what was lost, there is good that has come out of this," he said concerning these reforms.
In his position, he needed to find a bright side, but saying that any "good" has come from this is pretty sickening.
The victims of this abuse need a lot more than an apology and a lump sum to make up for what has happened to them.
They need a way to get their feeling of safety back, and that is something the church seems unable to do.
Contact Geoff Whiting at gwhiting@lsureveille.com.
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