Boston archdiocese to pay $85 million

Christian Century, Oct 4, 2003

The Archdiocese of Boston will seek mostly loan money to pay its $85 million settlement with 552 victims of clergy sexual abuse, the largest settlement in the history of the U.S. Catholic Church, according to media reports in Boston. Church officials stud they would pay for psychological treatment for victims for as long as they request it. The church also agreed to name victims to advisory boards, including one that handles complaints against priests.

The agreement was announced on September 9, two days after newly installed Archbishop Sean P. O'Malley sat in on six hours of negotiations with victims' lawyers. The Boston Herald and the Associated Press said victims who participate in the settlement will receive between $80,000 and $300,000. Parents who sued could get $20,000.

O'Malley reiterated on September 10 the archdiocese's pledge not to use parish collections, but told AP that the church might consider selling more of its real estate.

The $85 million figure is higher than the $55 million initially offered by the church and lower than the $90 million to $120 million demanded by victims, who represent nearly half of the alleged victims in the abuse scandal.

O'Malley, who took office on July 30, had made a quick settlement of the cases a priority for his tenure. In the 1990s, while serving as bishop of neighboring Fall River, O'Malley helped settle more than 100 abuse lawsuits involving former priest James Porter.

"This is an important agreement," Bishop Wilton Gregory, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, said in a statement. "It demonstrates that the church is committed to working out just settlements which seek to meet ... the needs of people who have suffered terribly."

The Herald said O'Malley came to the Sunday night session "warning [victims' lawyers] the church would not come up with a penny more." The newspaper reported that most of the $85 million would come from loans, with $10 million to $15 million coming from the sale of church property.

A lay reform group founded after the scandal broke warned that the settlement is not the end of the abuse issue. "It would be an enormous mistake for anyone to celebrate or believe that things can return to old ways, to business as usual," a statement from Voice of the Faithful said. "The Catholic Church must never--never--return to business as usual."--RNS