America’s largest archdiocese agrees to pay $880 million to 1,353 survivors of child sexual abuse

America’s largest archdiocese has agreed to pay a record $880 million to more than 1,000 people who were sexually abused by clergy as children.

The settlement announced Wednesday by attorneys for the 1,353 people who filed lawsuits against the Archdiocese of Los Angeles and its attorneys represents the largest single payment of any diocese in the United States, according to the New York Times.

Additionally, the total amount of settlements paid in sexual abuse lawsuits in Los Angeles over a quarter century is more than $1.5 billion.

“I am deeply sorry for each of these incidents,” Archbishop Jose H. Gomez said in announcing the settlement.

“My hope is that this settlement will bring some measure of healing to what these men and women have suffered.”

Gomez said the terms of the settlement “will provide fair compensation to the survivors and victims of these past abuses while allowing the archdiocese to continue to provide our services to the faithful and our special programs to the poor and vulnerable in our community.”‘

He explained that the settlement would be paid by “reserves, investments and loans, and other assets of the archdiocese and payments made by religious orders and others named in the litigation.”

The archbishop promised that no donations to parishes, schools and certain mission campaigns would be used to pay for the victims.

The settlement also requires the archdiocese to disclose additional files it kept on child abuse allegations, the Los Angeles Times reports.

More than 300 priests in the archdiocese, which serves more than four million Catholics in nearly 300 parishes, have been accused of sexually assaulting minors.

Victims also alleged that church leaders knew about the abuse but refused to alert law enforcement.

At times, church leaders have even moved clergy known to have sexually abused minors to other parishes rather than removing them from the priesthood altogether.

More than 300 priests in the archdiocese, which serves more than four million Catholics in nearly 300 parishes, have been accused of sexually assaulting minors

Some of the sexual abuse cases date back decades but were never filed because the statute of limitations had expired.

But that changed in 2019, when California opened a three-year window for reviving those claims.

“These survivors have suffered the consequences of abuse for decades,” said attorney Morgan Stewart, who led negotiations with church officials.

“Dozens of survivors have died. “They are aging, and many of those who know about the abuse within the church are also aging,” she said. “It was time to solve the problem.”

She said one of her biggest concerns during the years-long negotiations was to ensure that the archdiocese could pay its clients enough money for their suffering without going bankrupt – which would lead to delays in payments for the aging victims.

“We firmly believe we reached the largest number possible without them having to file for bankruptcy,” Stewart said.

She found that “too many dioceses have filed for bankruptcy to limit the rights of survivors.”

“LA didn’t do that.”

In this Feb. 1, 2013, file photo, members of the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests held a news conference outside the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels in Los Angeles

Stewart also said, “The enormous amount of this settlement reflects the extent of the serious harm inflicted on vulnerable children and the archdiocese’s decades of neglect, complicity and cover-up that enabled known serial predators to inflict that harm.”

The archdiocese had previously agreed to pay $660 million for lawsuits filed by 508 people in 2007 and had to sell some properties, liquidate investments and take out loans to cover litigation costs.

Wednesday’s settlement now represents a near conclusion to a quarter-century of litigation. Church officials said there were few lawsuits left.

But the announcement was met with mixed reactions, with some advocates saying it didn’t go far enough.

“There will never be full justice when the harm affects the life of a child,” said Michael Reck, an attorney at Jeff Anderson & Associates who represented some of the plaintiffs.

“But it is a level of justice and a level of responsibility that gives these survivors at least some sense of closure.”

The network called the agreement a good start but argued more needed to be done

The Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests also called the settlement a good start but argued more needed to be done as it called on Gomez to release all clergy files related to sexual abuse cases.

“We fear and believe that there are many more survivors who have not yet come forward,” board member Dan McNevin told the New York Times.

“It is incumbent on Archbishop Jose H. Gomes to find a way to bring these lost souls back from the cold.”

Meanwhile, other dioceses in California — including the Archdiocese of San Francisco and the dioceses of Oakland and San Diego — have protected themselves from the child abuse lawsuits by filing for bankruptcy.

“Many more dominoes have to fall in California,” warned Terence McKiernan, president of BishopAccountability.org.