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The Los Angeles Archdiocese July 15 announced the largest church settlement of sexual abuse lawsuits to date, agreeing to pay more than 500 alleged victims a total of $660 million.
Before noon the next day, Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Haley Fromholz had approved the settlement, calling it "the right result." He said settling the cases was "the right thing to do."
Los Angeles Cardinal Roger M. Mahony again offered his personal apology to every victim of sexual abuse by a priest, religious, deacon or layperson in the archdiocese.
"It is the shared hope of everyone in our local church that these victims, many of whom suffered in silence for decades, may find a measure of healing and some sense of closure with today's announcement," he said in a statement July 15.
"Although financial compensation in itself is inadequate to make up for the harm done to the victims and their families, still this compensation does provide a meaningful outreach to assist the victims to rebuild their lives and to move forward," he said.
The settlement -- reached by attorneys for the archdiocese and 508 people suing the archdiocese -- came the weekend before the first of 15 civil trials in Los Angeles County courts was to begin July 16. With the agreement in hand, Cardinal Mahony and attorneys for both sides instead appeared in court to present the formal settlement to Fromholz for approval.
Following Fromholz's action, Cardinal Mahony repeated his apology and his offer to meet privately with any victim of abuse who asks. "This particular day is a day for the victims to speak," he said, adding that he would spend the rest of the day in prayer.
Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, Vatican spokesman, said July 17 that the settlement "understandably has garnered great attention both because of the number of cases involved as well as for the figure of the settlement."
"But, as Cardinal Mahony -- in line with what John Paul II and Benedict XVI said many times -- the church obviously is pained mainly by the suffering of the victims and their families because of the profound wounds caused by the serious and inexcusable behavior of some of its members," Father Lombardi said.
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Allegations of sexual abuse by clergy have been made in many countries. After the United States, the country with the next highest number of cases is Ireland. A significant number of cases have also been reported in Australia, New Zealand, Canada and countries in Europe, Latin America and Asia.
In 2001, major lawsuits emerged in the United States and Ireland, alleging that some priests had sexually abused minors and that their superiors had conspired to conceal and otherwise abet their criminal misconduct. In 2004, the John Jay report tabulated a total of 4,392 priests and deacons in the U.S. against whom allegations of sexual abuse have been made.
Although the scandals in the U.S. and Ireland unfolded over approximately the same time period, there are some significant differences between them. In the United States, most of the abusers were parish priests under diocesan control. While there were also a significant number of abuse cases involving parish priests in Ireland, another major scandal involved criminal abuse committed by members of religious orders working in Catholic-run institutions such as orphanages and reform schools. In the United States, the abuse was primarily sexual in nature and involved mostly boys between the ages of 11 and 17; in Ireland, the allegations involved both physical and sexual abuse, and children of both sexes were involved, although a large majority were male.
In a statement read out by Archbishop Silvana Maria Tomasi in September 2009, the Holy See stated "We know now that in the last 50 years somewhere between 1.5% and 5% of the Catholic clergy has been involved in sexual abuse cases."
While that's well enough, it is only 'fessing up to old cases. Is there still a cover - up? I think there is. Do we know what's going on right now?
I prophecy that, while they loking for 'closure' so they can forget about this damage as soon as possible, it will not be long before we find that they are still covering up abuses going on right now.
While that's well enough, it is only 'fessing up to old cases. Is there still a cover - up? I think there is. Do we know what's going on right now?
I prophecy that, while they loking for 'closure' so they can forget about this damage as soon as possible, it will not be long before we find that they are still covering up abuses going on right now.
The most cruel and corrupt entity in the history of the world was the medieval church. All this will change...reason...the Internet. Discussion groups, forums, blogs, video's produced a few minutes after they happen, on-line newspapers, etc. Thank goodness for an interactive world.
I have lived during interesting times. Among my first recollections are those of rusty plows and my uncles walking through fresh turned dirt behind a mule pulling them. Hopefully there will be a day when car salespersons, preachers and politicians will have to become honest.
The medieval church was a product of the medieval age and moved along with it while telling itself that it was as immutable and unchanging as God.
It had some of the best brains and best learning in the western world. It preserved the Greek learning that the Muslims had preserved before them.
It administered Abbeys as businesses that often cared for their workers better than the barons cared for theirs.
On the other hand it interefered in politics, dealt harshly with dissent and made no attempt, shall we say, to push for the emancipation of women.
We can thank it for keeping learning alight in a world where it mihgt well have been forgotten and we can give a nod of thanks as we can to Astrology for giving the basis of astronoimy and Alchemy the basis for Chemistry.
However, because there is no religious support for those they have not maintained their influence (except as 'Your stars' and other horoscope- casting persons who find money to be made out of it) as alchemy won't even make as much money out of succering greedy fools who want to turn lead into gold as it makes out of manufacturing drugs.
The Church, on the other hand, has struggled since the first steps of science to find a way of maintaining authority while not getting too far out of step with people's knowledge and ideas of personal freedom.
It has a powerful weapon in pople's instinct to believe nonsense rather than mundane fact. It expoits the desire of people to support their leaders and believe that in their authority lies mental and social balance they need.
That authority, first strained over divorce, was dented a bit in the contraception issue and the rent widened over the refusal to ordain women. Women's inculated trust in the Bible word and authority of the Pope struggles with their innate conviction that they are as good as men any day and why God doesn't seem to know that?
The recent scandal does nothing to make their authority look unquestionable and, as i say, while apologizing for past mistakes is well enough, you can bet your boots that it is still going on and still being covered up.
They are trading heavily on the delusion of the masses exemplified by one bod on the news who said that the catholic church had to be supported because otherwise civilization would collapse.
When the undoubted continuation of the abuse is revealed without them being able to take refuge in 'we didn't know', the rage is going to be so hot that even the unquestioning faithful will squirm under the pressure of their own self - deceit.
The medieval church was a product of the medieval age and moved along with it while telling itself that it was as immutable and unchanging as God.
It had some of the best brains and best learning in the western world. It preserved the Greek learning that the Muslims had preserved before them.
It administered Abbeys as businesses that often cared for their workers better than the barons cared for theirs.
On the other hand it interefered in politics, dealt harshly with dissent and made no attempt, shall we say, to push for the emancipation of women.
We can thank it for keeping learning alight in a world where it mihgt well have been forgotten and we can give a nod of thanks as we can to Astrology for giving the basis of astronoimy and Alchemy the basis for Chemistry.
However, because there is no religious support for those they have not maintained their influence (except as 'Your stars' and other horoscope- casting persons who find money to be made out of it) as alchemy won't even make as much money out of succering greedy fools who want to turn lead into gold as it makes out of manufacturing drugs.
The Church, on the other hand, has struggled since the first steps of science to find a way of maintaining authority while not getting too far out of step with people's knowledge and ideas of personal freedom.
It has a powerful weapon in pople's instinct to believe nonsense rather than mundane fact. It expoits the desire of people to support their leaders and believe that in their authority lies mental and social balance they need.
That authority, first strained over divorce, was dented a bit in the contraception issue and the rent widened over the refusal to ordain women. Women's inculated trust in the Bible word and authority of the Pope struggles with their innate conviction that they are as good as men any day and why God doesn't seem to know that?
The recent scandal does nothing to make their authority look unquestionable and, as i say, while apologizing for past mistakes is well enough, you can bet your boots that it is still going on and still being covered up.
They are trading heavily on the delusion of the masses exemplified by one bod on the news who said that the catholic church had to be supported because otherwise civilization would collapse.
When the undoubted continuation of the abuse is revealed without them being able to take refuge in 'we didn't know', the rage is going to be so hot that even the unquestioning faithful will squirm under the pressure of their own self - deceit.
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some other time.
