A recent America Magazine article detailed how the Archdiocese of Los Angeles will have to pay $880 million in settlement payments for a record 1,300 sexual abuse claims. These claims all fall outside the statute of limitations, with some incidents dating back to the 1940s.
This is horrifying, enraging, and soul-crushing. That it happened is a disaster. That it was covered up for so long is a tragedy. That the people of the Archdiocese–parishioners with their own needs–will be the ones paying for the sins of past clerical leaders is a shame.
Rest assured, if you are donating any amount of undesignated funds to the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, a percentage of that will go towards paying these settlements. In the Archdiocese of Philadelphia‘s Independent Reconciliation and Reparations Program (IRRP), the diocese acquired the roughly $78 million needed by selling assets and having their own offices pay up. The Office of Catholic Education paid $8 million in a “risk mitigation payment” to the fund. That money came from reserves funded by tuition payments.
The same fate will meet Los Angeles 10 fold. Parishes will close, departments will be starved of funds, and needs will go unmet. Meanwhile, the bishops will continue to live in prestigious quarters with every meal provided for them. They will not be devastated by the failures of their predecessors like the victims. But they will have to clean up their mess.
May leadership be under scrutiny as a perpetual institution.