Archdiocese of Los Angeles Agrees To Pay Nearly One Billion Dollars in Sex Abuse Settlement
The Archdiocese of Los Angeles has reached a settlement with men and women who survived childhood sexual abuse at the hands of Roman Catholic priests and clergy within their organization. They have agreed to a payout of $880M to 1353 victims, or around $650k each, according to a letter sent to parishoners by José H. Gomez, the Archbishop of LA, who explains:
“This new settlement is the result of a 2019 California law (Assembly Bill 218) that removed the statute of limitations on childhood sexual abuse civil claims for a period of three years. During that period, some 1,900 claims of past allegations of sexual misconduct were filed in which the Archdiocese was named.
Most of the alleged acts of abuse covered in this settlement took place more than fifty years ago, with a number of the cases dating back to the 1940s. Some of these acts are alleged to have been committed by Archdiocesan clergy, some by lay people, and some by religious order priests and clergy from other dioceses who were serving here.
As you know, for many years now the Archdiocese has been confronting the consequences of past abuse by priests, clergy, and others working in the Church. We provide pastoral care and financial support for survivors-victims to assist in their healing. We enforce strict background and reporting requirements, and we have established extensive training programs to protect young people and to ensure safe environments in our parishes, schools, and other ministries.
Today, as a result of these reforms, new cases of sexual misconduct by priests and clergy involving minors are rare in the Archdiocese. 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.
This is the largest settlement ever paid by the Church to date. Funding for this settlement will be “drawn from reserves, investments, and loans, along with other Archdiocesan assets.” No money designated specifically to parishes or schools will be used.
While the $880M settlement takes care of most of the claims, there are some that have yet to be settled.
