NBC Sandiego
September 7, 2007
http://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/14069702/detail.html
San Diego — There was strong reaction Friday from victims of clergy sexual abuse following the announcement of a $198 million settlement by the Roman Catholic Diocese of San Diego.
The church has agreed to pay an average of $1.4 million per claimaint to 144 people who said they were abused by priests, making the payment the second-largest by any diocese. Victims expressed relief that a settlement was reached, but many said they are angry it took so long.
"They knew all along that I'd been molested, so to put me through this is unconscionable," said Michael Bang of Atlanta.
"What happened to us should never have happened. They knew that this priest was molesting us, and they moved him around, and let him molest other children. This should never have happened," said another woman.
"This day will always be remembered by people as what was most important. That you can't abuse a child and not be held responsible,' another man said.
One victim thanked her attorneys for giving them the strength to come forward.
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Bishop Robert Brom issued a statement saying, "We pray that this settlement will bring some closure and healing to the years of suffering experienced by these victims."
The bishop apologized to victims at a news conference Friday afternoon.
"I'm very, very sorry for the suffering we have caused them and I pray they will walk with God for a renewed life," he said.
| Read The Diocese Statement |
A statement by Irwin Zalkin, a lawyer for some of the plaintiffs said, "This settlement recognizes the enormous courage of the survivors and all parties hope that this settlement will bring some relief for the pain that survivors have endured for so long."
In addition, the statement indicates that the church's records may be disclosed or made public, as part of the settlement.
As a further part of the settlement and as mutually agreed by all parties, the Diocese of San Diego will also request that Bankruptcy Judge Louise DeCarl Adler dismiss its Chapter 11 bankruptcy case.
The San Diego diocese will pay $153 million to settle 111 cases involving its own clergy and $30 million for 22 cases involving members of Catholic orders, church officials said.
The Diocese of San Bernardino, a defendant in some of the cases, will pay $15 million to settle the other 11 claims, all for abuse that occurred after 1978, when San Bernardino split from the San Diego diocese.
Details of the settlement still need to be concluded and presented to Judge Louise DeCarl Adler as part of a request by the Diocese of San Diego to voluntarily dismiss the bankruptcy proceedings. That is expected sometime next month, Zalkin said.
The agreement capped more than four years of negotiations in state and federal courts and came six months after the diocese filed for bankruptcy protection just hours before the first of 42 lawsuits was scheduled for trial.
The local diocese filed for bankruptcy in February, delaying the start of public trials in the sex abuse cases. But the bankruptcy judge has criticized the diocese for allegedly hiding assets and threatened to let those trials proceed.
On Aug. 24, Adler ordered 42 cases to go to trial. Lawyers for 150 people who claim they were sexually abused by priests as children told the judge that re-activating those trials was the only way to force the diocese into a settlement.
The Los Angeles Archdiocese settled 508 cases for $660 million in July, two days before jury selection was scheduled to begin in the first of 15 trials involving 172 abuse claimants.
With nearly 1 million Catholics and holdings throughout San Diego County, the diocese is by far the largest and wealthiest of the five U.S. dioceses to have filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection under the shadow of civil claims over sexual abuse.
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