The latest in a long, long line of expensive headlines:
Archdiocese of Los Angeles agrees to pay $880 million to over 1,300 victims of clergy sexual abuse
The archdiocese has previously paid $740 million to victims in various settlements and had pledged to better protect its church members, so this settlement would put the total payout at more than $1.5 billion, the Times said.
There's more at the link.
Insurance policies have doubtless contributed some of that money, but a very large amount of it has come from the contributions, bequests and donations of ordinary Catholics over decades - possibly over centuries. Investments made generations ago have had to be wiped out to pay these claims.
Has anyone noticed any Catholic donor or contributor being asked for permission to use their donations in this way? No? I've certainly never seen or heard of that - and when I inquired about it, back in the day, I was told that the money belongs to the Church, and the Church alone would make the decision on how it was to be spent. Not a word of appreciation for the "widow's mite" that some donations undoubtedly represented, or the families that contributed so their kids could get "a good Catholic education" but instead were exposed to sexual predators who used the Catholic education system as a private hunting ground.
And still the Catholic hierarchy insists that it's doing the right thing by settling these claims:
After the announcement of the agreement in principle, Archbishop José H. Gomez said in a statement, “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,” the archbishop added.
“I believe that we have come to a resolution of these claims that will provide just compensation to the survivor-victims of these past abuses.”
And yet . . . if the Church had done its job in earlier years by screening candidates for the priesthood more carefully, and supervising their training more rigorously, and insisting that its clergy upheld the high moral standards they preached . . . none of this would be necessary, and countless victims of sexual predators would not have become victims.
Those of you who know my background will understand that I'm feeling particularly heartburn-ish this morning.
Peter
2 comments:
Vote with your money and your feet. If you stay in this relationship you are no different than the abused wife who complains but never leaves
I still maintain that there wouldn't have been nearly as many cases of sexual abuse amongst Catholic church leaders if they'd been allowed to marry and engage in traditional marriage relations. Mandatory celibacy needs to be abolished.
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