Catholic Church's
Costs Pass $1 Billion
in Abuse Cases
By AP from the
NYTimes on the Web, June 12, 2005
Sexual abuse by priests has cost the
Roman Catholic Church in the United States more than $1 billion, a figure almost
certain to rise by millions of dollars because of hundreds of still unsettled
claims.
Tallies by American bishops and an Associated Press review of known settlements
put the price tag so far at more than $1 billion.
The money was used by dioceses to pay settlements with victims, legal fees,
counseling and other expenses since 1950, The A.P. found.
At least $378 million has been spent in just the past three years, when the
crisis erupted in the Boston archdiocese and spread nationwide.
The Rev. Thomas Doyle, who left a promising career with the church to help
represent victims, warned the bishops in 1985 that abuse costs could eventually
exceed $1 billion.
"Nobody believed us," said Father Doyle, a canon lawyer. "I remember one
archbishop telling me, 'My feeling about this, Tom, is no one's ever going to
sue the Catholic Church.' "
Asked about the dollar amount, a spokesman for the United States Conference of
Catholic Bishops, Monsignor Francis Maniscalco, said church leaders believed the
payouts "should be just to all sides." He said that victims deserved
compensation, but that the church also must have enough money to continue
serving parishioners.
The bishops are set to meet in Chicago this week to review a plan for protecting
children.
The exact financial effect on the church is hard to determine because each
diocese owns property separately and settles cases on its own. Insurance
policies cover some costs, but policies differ from diocese to diocese.
And in many places, the coverage has run out.
Many dioceses already had financial problems because of rising labor costs,
maintenance for old churches and other expenses, said Charles Zech, an economics
professor at Villanova University who studies church finances.
The church, however, avoided a feared widespread boycott by donors, Dr. Zech
said. The number of donors has fallen in the past few years, but the
amount contributed over all has held steady, he said.
Still, some of the damage is plainly visible.
The Boston archdiocese and several others have agreed to sell property to cover
their multimillion-dollar settlements. Three dioceses -- Portland, Ore.;
Tucson; and Spokane, Wash. -- have filed for bankruptcy, and more are expected
to follow.
The billion-dollar cost does not come close to other major legal settlements in
recent years. The tobacco industry, for example, has agreed to hundreds of
billions of dollars in payouts.
The A.P. calculated the total price from settlement announcements by dioceses
and from reports commissioned by the nation's bishops, including a study by the
John Jay College of Criminal Justice of claims from 1950 to 2002. Victims'
groups say the church reports have underestimated the total.
Among religious groups confronting abuse, the Catholic Church is the only one to
release settlement figures spanning decades. But experts say the church
has paid more to victims than any other denomination. Researchers
commissioned by the bishops found more than 11,500 abuse claims against priests
since 1950.
There is disagreement over whether the church is being forced to pay too much
for its failures.
Barbara Blaine, founder of the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests,
said that most recent agreements had been reached before trial -- a sign, she
said, that bishops know the true scope of the wrongdoing and are trying to
minimize the cost.
"That the settlements could go that high shows us the seriousness of the harm
and the cover-up," Ms. Blaine said.
But defense lawyers say public opinion has moved so far against the church that
the bishops have little choice. Several states extended the statutes of
limitation for suing over the abuse; California abolished the time restriction
for one year, leading to hundreds of new claims that have yet to be resolved.
Patrick Schiltz, a lawyer who has defended many dioceses in abuse cases, agreed
that bishops had a moral obligation to pay victims but said the size of the
settlements was "getting out of hand."
A $120 million compensation fund announced last week by the Diocese of
Covington, Ky., is the biggest settlement so far. And last December, the
Diocese of Orange, Calif., agreed to pay $100 million to 87 victims.
"It's because of the media coverage," said Mr. Schiltz, a professor at the
University of St. Thomas School of Law in Minneapolis. "The thumb is
heavily on the scale against the church."
Mr. Schiltz said he disagreed with Catholics who contend that many of the newer
claims are fake. But he said weaker cases that once would have been thrown
out of court were probably succeeding.
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