LA Cardinal Apologizes to Plaintiffs

AP ^ | Sunday, July 15, 2007 | GILLIAN FLACCUS

[Salvation]

Cardinal Rogery Mahony celebrates a Mass at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels in downtown Los...

LA Cardinal Apologizes to Plaintiffs
Sunday, July 15, 2007 6:27 PM EDT
The Associated Press
By GILLIAN FLACCUS

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Cardinal Roger Mahony, leader of the nation's largest Roman Catholic archdiocese, apologized Sunday to the hundreds of people who will get a share of a $660 million settlement over allegations of clergy sex abuse.

"There really is no way to go back and give them that innocence that was taken from them. The one thing I wish I could give the victims ... I cannot," he said.

"Once again, I apologize to anyone who has been offended, who has been abused. It should not have happened, and it will not happen again."

Mahony said that he has met in the past 14 months with dozens of people alleging clergy abuse and that those meetings helped him understand the importance of a quick resolution to the lawsuits.

The settlement will not affect the archdiocese's core ministry, Mahony said, but the church will have to sell buildings, use some of its invested funds and borrow money. The archdiocese will not sell any parish property, he said.

The deal between the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles and more than 500 alleged victims of clergy sexual abuse reached late Saturday is by far the largest payout since the nationwide clergy abuse scandal emerged in 2002 in Boston.

The settlement also calls for the release of priests' confidential personnel files after review by a judge. According to Tod Tamberg, spokesman for the archdiocese, the settlement had not required Mahony to make his public apology.

Earlier Sunday, Mahony presided over Mass at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels in downtown Los Angeles without directly addressing the settlement. The service did include a prayer for victims of clergy abuse.

Mahony and all parties are expected before a Los Angeles Superior Court judge on Monday to enter the settlement into the court record, attorneys said.

"I think for those of us who have been involved in this for more than five years, it's a huge relief," said Michael Hennigan, archdiocese attorney. "But it's a disappointment too that we didn't get it done much earlier than this."

Parishioners reacted with disappointment and relief to the settlement.

Vivian Viscarra, 50, who attends Mass at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels three times a month, said the victims deserve the payout even though it could hurt the church's ability to deliver important services. The amount would average a little more than $1.3 million per plaintiff, although individual payouts will vary according to the severity and duration of the abuse.

"I am disappointed," Viscarra said. "And it's making me re-evaluate my views of whether people in the ministry should be married. People do have needs."

Chris Parra, who attends Mass every Sunday, said she couldn't help thinking about the settlement when she shook Mahony's hand on the way out of the cathedral.

"Even when I was standing there, shaking his hand, I was thinking about how he's finally going to release the priests' personnel records and I wondered to myself why didn't he do that sooner," she said, holding her baby, Tomas.

Parra said she was upset that her tithing would go toward paying the settlement.

"I still want my children to follow the church's guidelines and foundation because that's how I was raised," she said. "But there's still a lot of healing to be done."

The deal settles all 508 cases that remained against the archdiocese, which also paid $60 million in December to settle 45 cases that weren't covered by sexual abuse insurance.

Under the latest deal, the archdiocese will pay $250 million, insurance carriers will pay a combined $227 million and several religious orders will chip in $60 million. The remaining $123 million will come from litigation with religious orders that chose not to participate in the deal, with the archdiocese guaranteeing resolution of those 80 to 100 cases within five years, Hennigan said.

Standing outside the cathedral, Mary Grant, spokeswoman for Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests, said the settlement did not end suffering for the thousands of victims of clergy abuse.

"This is not over," she said. "Church officials would like to think that this settlement means everything is OK.... But this is not a magic wand."

The settlements push the total amount paid out by the U.S. church since 1950 to more than $2 billion, with about a quarter of that coming from the Los Angeles archdiocese. A judge must sign off on the agreement.

The Los Angeles archdiocese, its insurers and various Roman Catholic orders have paid more than $114 million to settle 86 claims so far.

Several religious orders in California have also reached multimillion-dollar settlements in recent months, including the Carmelites, the Franciscans and the Jesuits.

[Salvation]

For your discussion.

Over $1M to each accuser, whether or not the priest is guilty or innocent.

[Salvation]

L.A. Archdiocese to Pay $600M to sex crime Victims

[ken21]

took archbishop maphony long enough to apologize.

[Tax-chick]

Money makes it all better, I guess.

[Salvation]

Catholic Discussion Ping!

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[Salvation]

**Money makes it all better**

I think not, what needs to happen on their part is forgiveness.

[madprof98]

I caught a minute of the “apology” on the news earlier today. He was rambling about wishing that the lives of the victims were like VHS videotapes. He didn’t say what was supposed to be on the tapes, but with this guy, you have to wonder.

[ex-snook]

"I think not, what needs to happen on their part is forgiveness. "

How this came to be can't be resolved by money. If money can solve the problem, it will happen again.

[baa39]

“I am disappointed,” Viscarra said. “And it’s making me re-evaluate my views of whether people in the ministry should be married. People do have needs.”

Fags seem to have a “need” to molest boys. How is combining Holy Orders with Matrimony going to solve that problem? I think the quicker route is to expel homo’s from the seminaries and parishes. Because that is not happening on any widespread or committed basis, I wonder how Mahony can promise the abuse “will never happen again”?

[ken21]

maphony’s an odd guy.

he got his start in the central valley with cezar chavez.

he’s a leftist.

but he likes money. in the mid-1980’s richard riordan, later a los angeles mayor, and his millionaire buddies bought

maphony his own helicopter. maphony was a licensed pilot.

[Salvation]

In a way, though, it was a good analogy. He just strung it out too much. LOL!

I would not like sitting through one of his homilies if that is the way he makes a point, would you?

[baa39]

Insiders don’t call him “Roger the Dodger” for nothing, and I don’t think the reference is merely to the erstwhile Los Angeles baseball team.

[Salvation]

Agree with you all the way on this one.

[baa39]

Thanks for making that point Salvation, and it’s very sad. Yes, of course the church officials must make amends and do right by the victims, but there are some priests also being victimized, and no one is coming to their defense.

[madprof98]

I wouldn’t care to sit anywhere near him at all. I understand he paid this bundle of money (collected from the ever-forgiving faithful of his archdiocese) to avoid having to testify in public. Know anything about that?

[Grunthor]

He’s got a lot more to apologize for that this.

[Grunthor]

“He was rambling about wishing that the lives of the victims were like VHS videotapes. He didn’t say what was supposed to be on the tapes, but with this guy, you have to wonder.”

With this guy rest assured that the audio would be in espanol.

[Salvation]

**I think the quicker route is to expel homo’s from the seminaries and parishes.**

I thought this (that those unfit for the priesthood and celebacy are being expelled) was happening in all seminaries right now. Am I mistaken?

[Salvation]

Also heard this rumored. Have not seen it verified anywhere. But I do know he does not want reporters digging around the Archdiocese of Los Angeles.

Go figure — you get the picture, I’m sure.

[Running On Empty]

I don’t know how to link, so will have to do it the dinosaur way: Albion Girl’s post #45 on the thread “Deliver Us From Evil”, 5-14-07, expresses my own thoughts regarding this grievous situation:

AG: “I always thought it was a mistake for those molested to seek their justice with money. It takes what should be a precious wound, one from which much love and good can spring and turn it into something for sale. It is much better to rely on God to sustain you in each and every way.”

Thanks, AG

[Salvation]

Actually in one case I know of (and I suspect you do too) the state of Oregon came to the defense of the priest! Thank goodness for those state records and archdiocesan records. (Although there was one state record and one archdiocesan record that had little errors in them.) Guess what the crooked lawyer hooking onto? No, you probably already know.

[baa39]

It’s happening in a superficial way, and with great variation depending on what order and what diocese. There are certain dioceses in the US where the bishop and virtually every member of his staff is homosexual or lesbian. (I won’t name, but will leave for those living there to specify if they see fit.) And yes, surely, there are others where orthodoxy reigns.

We need to realize that there is an entrenched “lavender mafia” (to use the cliche) within the Church that has infiltrated to very high levels of certain priestly orders, seminaries, universities, and I won’t go so far as to say even the Curia, although certainly they have their representatives there. These people stick together, they cover for one another, they promote one another. They are well organized and well-connected. And even if not “gay” per se, many leftist priests and bishops are ideologically aligned with them and “look the other way.”

Edicts and guidelines can issue forth from the Vatican, but (as we are seeing with Summorum Pontificum) implementation on a practical level is another matter that requires sometimes drastic and heroic actions by bishops, priests and individual laymen.

[Ransomed]

I could see having a mix of married and celibate priests. I know what you’re saying about the problem not being because of the discipline of celibacy, though. I think that if married seminarians were going to priest school they would be less tolerant of flakes hangin’ around their families. Of course the real problem is the craptastic Bishops.

Freegards

[fishergirl]

Oh, thank you. They all apologize but it still goes on, it’s probably still happening now. They’re just sorry they were caught - AGAIN! When will this stop? Dunno, these pedophile priests keep getting protected by their diocese, Rome, etc. And now we have the Pope stating the the only true Church is the Roman Catholic Church?!??! Give me a break!!!!!! What! Sounds like an intimidation factor to me - the RCC has been paying out huge settlements to victims (also remember Boston) and losing donations in the last few years because of all the pedophile priests that have been hidden and sent elsewhere, only to molest more children? Oh, but what do I know - my church, according to His Popeness, is only an “ecclesial community”.

[Salvation]

I am aware of two dioceses that are totally infiltrated by the Lavender Mafia. Probably more according to what you say. They have both been mentioned in threads here on FR, but I think it is wise, as do you, to refrain from it now.

We need to pray and pray and pray and pray for these priests, bishops, etc.

In some cases, it is prayer that moves God’s will.

[Biggirl]

I will be thankful when he comes up to the age of 75 and according to Church rules, attend to his resignation to the Pope. When that happens I hope that the one to suceed him will be truly a holy man of God.

[Salvation]

Amen to your post. Pray for this to happen!

[baa39]

I don’t think it would be necessary for him to ‘pay off’ anyone to avoid a court appearance. Mahony’s cronies will protect him, they go back decades and they are spread throughout government, politics and the leftist media. Mahony’s power is vast, and I’ll go beyond using Ken21’s reserved expression that he’s “odd” - Mahony is a megalomaniac.

[Biggirl]

Does anyone remember when Archbishop Mahonny got into a “conflicto gato” or cat fight with Mother Angelica of EWTN over an issue about the holy mass? I think if my memory is correct, Pope John Paul II took Mother Angelica’s side. If there is any error please do correct. Thanks.

[Biggirl]

Thank-you and God Bless.

[Tax-chick]

Excellent observation from AlbionGirl. I agree - it diminishes the suffering of the victims. If an injury can be “fixed” with money, then it was a relatively trivial injury.

[ken21]

yeah, i was too nice!

[baa39]

Just to clarify, in case some think we are exaggerating the homosexual aspect, in 81 percent of these abuse cases the man molested a young adolescent or pubescent boy. That is a very specific type of perversion, not typical of child abuse stats in general, which would cover a much broader age range and of course include a greater percentage of females.

Pro-gay and social worker types argue that it only happened to be mostly boys because of “availability”, but who has more access than a priest? He is trusted at church picnics, family gatherings, youth outings and trips, schools, homes, plenty of venues with boys and girls (and women if it were truly merely a “sexual frustration” issue). If the priest wanted to molest a girl, that would not be difficult in most cases. The priests are homosexuals, that is THE problem. Guess I’m probably preaching to the choir here?

[Biggirl]

“Mahony is a megalomaniac.”

Proof that what you have said is true is just simply take a look at the very modernistic Cathridral of Our Lady of the Angels in LA. Good grief it looks more like one of those big box stores then a RC church.

[baa39]

In essence you’ve got that right. The Pope didn’t exactly go directly up against Mahony, but he protected Mother Angelica. He also really personally liked and admired her.

With it common knowledge how bad Mahony is, I wonder why he isn’t replaced? I asked a knowledgeable priest about this once, and he said it’s a glaring scandal to us here, but from the perspective of Rome, the USA is only a tiny part of the Church, and the L.A. Archdiocese just a peculiar little speck far, far away. (...???...)

[Biggirl]

In other words, got bigger fish to fry right now, ( Rome ), such as the recent Motu Properu, the issue of salvation and the Church, Muslims, ete., to be worried about a long distance archdiocese.

[baa39]

“it looks more like one of those big box stores then a RC church”

LOL! Good description. Others are the “Taj Mahony” or “Raj (Roger) Mahal” and “Our Lady of Angst” !

Maybe if they need funds for the lawsuits, they can sell the place to Walmart or Costco?

[Biggirl]

....Or even “Target”, lol, and it can put its logo right on the window.

[Biggirl]

In my home archdiocese, Hartford, at least the Cathedrial, St. Joseph’s which was rebuit after the old was distroyed in a massive fire for a modern cathedrial, had the looks of a church to include a sphire topped with a cross.

[Biggirl]

Here is a URL for St. Joseph’s in Hartford.

http://archdioceseofhartford.org/cathedral.htm

[Biggirl]

Forgot to add, “ Old St. Joseph’s”.

[Salvation]

Some individuals have made mistakes — that does not make the Catholic Church wrong.

It would be like saying your whole congregation is wrong, because you have someone addicted to alcoholism or pornography in it.

God will be the judge.

[fishergirl]

I agree wholeheartedly with you. God bless!

[baa39]

Seems like it could be beautiful from the inside, with those large stained glass windows.

[Ransomed]

I know about pedastry vs.child molestation as concerns the priest scandal. I think the absolute problem is our liberal, crappy Bishops. They let the pink wolves in.

Here’s a story fer you: A few years ago we had an ultra liberal parish priest — acted as queer as a three dollar bill, “Sting” songs during the sermon, invalid matter for the hosts, pushing “liturgical movement” (that’s dance to us english speakin’ folks), allowing any ol’ whack-job to come speak during the Mass, ect... Despite all this most of our parish loved this piece of work (40+ years of bad teaching will do that to people). One sunday the parish is a-buzz ‘cause this lib priest didn’t show up — the Bishop did. After he says Mass the Bishop tells us he has to make an announcement about our parish priest. I’m thinking: alright!!The complaints must have worked!! He says something like “Father So&so had innapropriate sexual relations.........with............ an adult WOMAN!!! I was so shocked (that the guy wasn’t a fag)and relieved (that he didn’t ruin some kid’s idea of the Church) that I almost stood and cheered! I had a good feeling for weeks. That’s what the Bishops have done to us — instead of being sad that this priest broke his vow, I was happy that he wasn’t a fag and was messin’ around with an adult.

Freegards

[buccaneer81]

We need to pray and pray and pray and pray for these priests, bishops, etc.

Respectfully, no. Parishioners need to stop giving money to the parish and the diocese. They also need to confront ANYONE wearing a Roman collar and demand reform.

A Schism may not be such a bad thing for the Church. It's time to abolish celibacy and recognize that most Catholics are conservative, be it toward homosexuality or immigration.

[ducdriver]

And now we have the Pope stating the the only true Church is the Roman Catholic Church?!??!

So you are saying that it cannot be the authentic church that Jesus Himself established because it has become infiltrated with enemies? Perhaps it's really the opposite, that it's the true church because it has withstood such assaults over the centuries.

[AlbionGirl]

R, thanks for keeping me in your thoughts. I appreciate it.

The best to you, and to you too, Tax-chick.

[Salvation]

Praying does not preclude choices to withold donations.

Neither does witholding donations preclude prayers. These wayward priests need prayer and more prayer.

You have heard about the page in the Pieta Prayer Book about praying for priests rather than criticiang them, haven’t you? That’s believing you are a Catholic????

[baa39]

I am laughing, it’s not funny, but I guess it’s just you can only take so much, and your surprise ending to the story, well, I see what you mean!

Certainly some bishops are going to have a surprise in store when they get to the Pearly Gates are are directed to the “down” elevator. But I also wonder, how blind can people be? Why do they sit there and go along with these abuses and deformations of the Mass without even questioning?

Granted, the layperson isn’t responsible to know all the rubrics, they should not HAVE to read the GIRM if the priests are good, but when you see girls in diaphanous draperies waltzing across the altar, doesn’t some little voice inside say, “somethin’ ain’t right about this”