As many of you know, last Friday a sex abuse settlement was announced related to cases pending in against the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. 45 accusers will be awarded a 60 million dollar settlement.
Cardinal Roger M. Mahony said Friday that the Los Angeles Archdiocese had agreed to pay $60 million to 45 people who said they were abused by Roman Catholic priests — a payout that would be among the highest per person since the clergy sex abuse scandal exploded four years ago.
But within hours, plaintiffs’ attorneys said Mahony had "jumped the gun" in announcing a settlement. Raymond P. Boucher, lead counsel for the plaintiffs, confirmed that they were "on the verge of settling" but said "there are still some issues to be ironed out."
This article looks at what the financial consequences might be:
Hit with an initial $40-million bill for its share of 45 clergy sexual abuse settlements announced Friday, the Archdiocese of Los Angeles warned that it will have to make cutbacks. And the 485 remaining molestation lawsuits could cost hundreds of millions more.
The payouts will certainly hurt, but the archdiocese has vast wealth, most of it in land. A Times analysis has found that the archdiocese is the recorded owner of one of the biggest real estate portfolios in Southern California — at least 1,600 properties with an estimated value of about $4 billion.
What the nation’s most-populous Catholic jurisdiction might be willing to sell, however, is likely to feed an ongoing debate within the church over who controls parish property — the prelates governing the institution or the parishioners.
Most of the archdiocese’s property is devoted to religious purposes, such as churches and schools. But there are also oil wells, farm parcels, commercial parking lots, a fashion district building and the land under an Alhambra car dealership.
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A Times examination of property records and other documents suggests that about $175 million of the archdiocese’s real estate portfolio is in properties not classified by the tax assessor as used for religious purposes or cemeteries — and thus more likely to be available for settlements.
In addition, the archdiocese has investment funds of about $660 million, although it says most of that money belongs to affiliated organizations and parishes, according to the church’s newspaper, the Tidings.
Mahony said the archdiocese set aside $40 million last year toward Friday’s settlements. He has not said how the church would pay for its share of settlements in the remaining lawsuits.
"Our goal is to have no impact to our parishes or ministries that would imperil our ministry," the cardinal said. "There are ways to combine services, maybe to accomplish the goals with fewer personnel, down the road."
But many parishioners fear that the settlements will cut into the archdiocese’s network of churches, schools and ministries, which serve 4.3 million people in Los Angeles, Ventura and Santa Barbara counties.
The archdiocese’s contention that its insurers are obligated to pay for the rest of the claims has been disputed by liability companies, which contend that California law renders coverage void because church superiors had reason to expect that the abuse would occur. The two sides have also differed on the dollar and time limits of the coverage.
This article examines still-unanswered questions and the question of opening files.
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