Los Angeles church to pay $880 million in clergy abuse settlement, total payouts exceed $1.5 billion

The Archdiocese of Los Angeles has agreed to pay $880 million to settle claims of clergy sexual abuse, marking the largest single settlement of its kind with a Catholic archdiocese, Los Angeles Times reported. The deal covers allegations from 1,353 victims of abuse by local priests, dating back decades.

Archbishop José H. Gomez expressed deep regret, stating, "I am sorry for every one of these incidents, from the bottom of my heart." He added that the settlement offers "just compensation" and hopes it brings "some measure of healing" to the survivors.

The Archdiocese began mediating the abuse claims after California enacted a law that allowed new lawsuits to be based on past instances of sexual abuse involving minors, Reuters reported.

People hold quilts at a press conference outside of Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels for victims of sexual abuse by priests in the Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles in Los Angeles, California, February 1, 2013. File/Reuters

The California law and similar laws in other states have driven many large Catholic organizations to seek bankruptcy protection around the U.S. In California, the Archdiocese of San Francisco and the dioceses of Oakland and San Diego have filed for bankruptcy to resolve similar abuse claims.

The agreement follows months of negotiations with lawyers representing victims who alleged abuse by local Catholic priests and concludes 25 years of legal battles against the nation’s largest archdiocese.

The Plaintiffs' Liaison Committee acknowledged that no amount of money can undo the harm, but noted that “there is justice in accountability.”

The settlement will be distributed among the victims through a process that excludes direct involvement from the archdiocese. This agreement brings the archdiocese's total payouts in abuse cases to over $1.5 billion, after previously paying $740 million to other victims.

Attorney Morgan Stewart, who led negotiations, emphasized the urgency of the settlement, pointing out that many survivors are aging, and several have already passed away. "It was time to get this resolved," he told the LA Times.

The funds will come from archdiocesan investments, reserves, and bank financing, with some costs shared by religious orders.