CALIFORNIA
Lodi News-Sentinel
Posted: Tuesday, June 11, 2013
By Ross Farrow/News-Sentinel Staff Writer
The Catholic diocese serving parishes from Lodi to Turlock has spent about $15 million in judgments, settlements and legal costs regarding clergy abuse cases by priests and former priests, according to Bishop Stephen Blaire.
Blaire, bishop of the Stockton Diocese, issued a message to parishioners throughout the diocese. The message was read aloud during Masses on Saturday and Sunday.
“It was a sad comment, kind of scary,” Lodi resident Patty Ibarra said after Sunday’s 10:30 a.m. Mass at St. Anne’s Catholic Church.
Diocese officials agreed last week to a $1.75 million settlement with a former parishioner who says he was sexually abused by defrocked priest Oliver O’Grady. …
Statement by Bishop Stephen Blaire
The following message by Stockton Diocese Bishop Stephen Blaire was read aloud during all Masses from Lodi to Turlock on Saturday and Sunday:
Dear Friends,
By now, most of you will have seen (last) week’s newspaper and television news stories about our diocese and the difficult financial situation we face. I want, however, to address this topic with you directly and bring you up to date on where things stand and what lies ahead.
(Last) week, our diocese reached a negotiated settlement that brings an end to a lawsuit arising from sexual abuse by Oliver O’Grady in the 1980s. The man who brought the suit was a boy of 10 or 11 when this abuse occurred, and he suffered greatly as a result of it. It is my hope that this settlement helps him continue to heal. He, and all victims of sexual abuse, must be in our prayers always.
This most recent agreement brings the total our diocese has paid in judgments, settlements and legal costs to more than $15 million over the past 20 years. Of this amount, more than $6 million has been paid in the last three years alone.
Since my arrival as your bishop 14 years ago, I have tried to settle these cases when possible and to heal the deep wounds caused to our church and our diocese by the evil of sexual abuse. I hope that we will be seen to have treated victims fairly.
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