LOS ANGELES (CA)
Forbes [Jersey City NJ]
October 17, 2024
By Siladitya Ray
Topline The Archdiocese of Los Angeles on Wednesday said it has agreed to pay $880 million to settle claims of clergy sexual abuse dating back several decades, which the victims’ attorneys say is the largest such settlement with a Catholic archdiocese.
Key Facts
- The settlement covers 1,353 child sexual abuse claims dating back to the 1940s and filed after California’s Assembly Bill 218 was enacted in 2019, which allowed civil claims of older sexual abuse cases involving minors to be reopened.
- In a letter to the city’s Catholic residents, LA Archbishop José H. Gomez wrote: “I am sorry for every one of these incidents, from the bottom of my heart,” adding that he hoped the settlement “will provide some measure of healing for what these men and women have suffered.”
- Gomez said the church would fund the settlement by drawing from its “reserves, investments, and loans, along with other Archdiocesan assets and payments.”
- According to the church’s official news outlet Angelus, none of the claims “involved allegations against priests currently in ministry.”
- The settlement has been agreed to “in principle” and will be implemented after it receives approval from a certain number of claimants involved in the settlement.
- Once approved, the settlement payouts are expected to be made in 2025 and 2026.
Crucial Quote
“While there is no amount of money that can replace what was taken from these 1,353 brave individuals who have suffered in silence for decades, there is justice in accountability. We are grateful to the brave survivors who came forward to hold those responsible accountable and to protect the children of the future,” the Plaintiffs’ Liaison Counsel said in a press release.
Big Number
$1.5 billion. That is the cumulative payout the Archdiocese of Los Angeles has agreed to give alleged clergy sexual abuse victims. This includes Wednesday’s settlement and $740 million made to victims in various previous settlements, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Further Reading
L.A. Catholic Church to pay record settlement over clergy abuse; cumulative payouts top $1.5 billion (Los Angeles Times)