The Archdiocese of Los Angeles has reached a historic settlement, paying out $880 million to victims of clergy sexual abuse. With previous payments of some $740 million to victims in various settlements, this brings the total amount paid by the archdiocese to over $1.5 billion, by far the highest amount paid by any single diocese to settle abuse claims.
NBC reports that the $880 million will settle cases of 1,353 individuals who have alleged horrific abuse within the Catholic Church, with some cases stretching back decades. The majority of these claims were filed after California opened, in 2019, a three-year window to allow victims who were minors to revive claims that had passed the statute of limitations. After this settlement, there are reportedly only a few cases left to conclude.
The settlement was approved by Archbishop José H. Gomez, who – according to the LA Times – said that the settlement would not be paid by any donations to parishes or schools. The archdiocese will draw funds from its investments, accumulated reserves, bank financing, and other assets, with some religious orders and others named in the suit to contribute.
“I am sorry for every one of these incidents, from the bottom of my heart. My hope is that this settlement will provide some measure of healing for what these men and women have suffered,” Archbishop Gomez said, adding that the settlement will provide “just compensation to the survivor-victims of these past abuses while also allowing the Archdiocese to continue to carry out our ministries.”
The archbishop went on to highlight the many reforms to training procedures for volunteers and staff who work for the Church. The enforcement of strict background checks and reporting requirements as well as extensive training programs are working to prevent further abuse from occurring:
“Today, as a result of these reforms, new cases of sexual misconduct by priests and clergy involving minors are rare in the Archdiocese,” he said. “No one who has been found to have harmed a minor is serving in ministry at this time. And I promise: We will remain vigilant.”
