The Archdiocese of Los Angeles agreed on Wednesday to pay out $880 million in settlements over sex abuse claims going back eight decades.
A California state law passed in 2019 removed the statute of limitations on childhood sexual abuse civil claims for three years, reopening cases for victims dating back to the 1940s.
The same archdiocese paid a similar settlement of $740 million in 2014.
Collectively, the two settlements add up to $1.62 billion for victims of abuse from the Archdiocese. The latest payments are for the “consequences of past abuse by priests, clergy, and others working in the Church,” said Archbishop José H. Gomez, who approved the settlement.
More than 300 priests who worked in L.A. have been accused of sexual abuse. One of the priests cited in the lawsuit is Father Michael Baker, who allegedly abused over 40 children. A total of 1,353 people are slated to receive payouts.
“I am sorry for every one of these instances, from the bottom of my heart,” Gomez said in an official statement. “My hope is that this settlement will provide some measure of healing for what these men and women have suffered.”
Morgan Stewart, the attorney who led negotiations for the settlement, told NPR the agreement caused “a mixture of emotions– relief, happiness, dismay that this happened.”
“These survivors have suffered for decades in the aftermath of their abuse,” Stewart told the Los Angeles Times. “Dozens of the survivors have died…It was time to get this resolved.”
Gomez highlighted the church’s commitment to prevent further abuse and support victims. The church has added background checks and requirements to report suspicious behavior and abuse, he noted.
“Today, as a result of these reforms, new cases of sexual misconduct by priests and clergy involving minors are rare in the Archdiocese,” Gomez said.
Money for the settlements will come from reserves, loans and investments, according to the official statement. Gomez said that no funds would be stripped from parishes, schools, Archdiocesan-wide collections or campaigns.
Los Angeles isn’t alone in making such payments. In 2003, the Boston Globe’s Spotlight investigative team revealed the massive scale of sexual abuse by clergy in that archdiocese. The investigation resulted in an $85 million payout to 552 victims. Adjusted for inflation, that would be more than $145 million today. That settlement was the largest publicly disclosed payout by a U.S. diocese to settle sexual abuse claims at the time.