c. 2006 Religion News Service
L.A. Archdiocese Pays $60 Million to Settle 45 Abuse Claims
(RNS) The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles has announced it will pay $60 million to settle 45 sexual-abuse claims made against its clergy.
The decision will help bring to a close 8 percent of the 562 cases brought against the nation’s largest archdiocese, and will cover two periods when the church had little or no insurance against sexual abuse claims.
The settlement “is a positive step forward in the Church’s efforts to promote healing and reconciliation for those who have suffered abuse by members of the clergy,” Cardinal Roger Mahony said in a statement Friday (Dec. 1).
The cardinal said $40 million will come from the archdiocese itself while the remaining funds will come from religious orders and a small amount of insurance coverage.
Each claimant is expected to receive $1.33 million _ among the largest amounts paid to sex-abuse victims by the Roman Catholic Church. The claims involve 22 priests in the archdiocese of 4.3 million Catholics in Los Angles, Ventura and Santa Barbara counties.
Mahony said the archdiocese had set aside funds last year in anticipation of the agreement, and no parishes would be affected by the cost of the settlement. Hundreds of claims are still pending, however, and the church will “re-evaluate some ministries, services and nonessential properties” as it faces future trials, he said.
“At this time, I again offer my personal apology to every victim who has suffered sexual abuse by a priest, religious or deacon in this archdiocese,” Mahony said. “I pray that the settlement of this initial group of cases will help the victims involved to move forward with their lives and to build a brighter future for themselves and their families.”
David Clohessy, national director for the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, said he applauds the settlement, but still strongly condemns the actions of Mahony and the Catholic Church.
“It’s crucial that this settlement be seen as what it is: a purely business decision by Mahony, and nothing more,” Clohessy said. “We must remember that he fought disclosure and settlement at every juncture.”
_ Jason Kane
Vatican Threatens to Excommunicate Chinese Bishop
VATICAN CITY (RNS) Relations between China and the Vatican continued to fray after the Holy See threatened to excommunicate a Chinese bishop recently consecrated without papal approval.
A Vatican statement issued Saturday (Nov. 2) condemned the consecration of Wang Renlei of the Xuzhou diocese in eastern China, as a “laceration of the ecclesial communion.”
The statement invoked a section of canon law that says the bishop and those who assisted in his consecration faced the penalty of excommunication if “the act was completed in conditions of true freedom” _ a caveat implying that Wang could have been pressed into accepting the consecration and, if so, would not be excommunicated.
“The Holy Father was deeply saddened by the news,” the statement said.
The world’s largest church and most populous country have frequently clashed over who ultimately holds the authority to appoint bishops to run China’s Catholic hierarchy. The Vatican argues that the power lies exclusively with the pope. But Beijing says the appointments are necessary to offset the shrinking number of current Chinese bishops. The government argues the new bishops have the support of their dioceses.
For a time, China was appointing bishops with the tacit approval of the pope, though that arrangement appears to have recently unraveled. Wang’s appointment is the third one China has made this year independently of Benedict, torpedoing efforts on both sides to re-establish diplomatic ties, which were severed in 1951.
Five million Chinese Catholics currently belong to a state-controlled “Catholic” church while at least 8 million faithful are believed to belong to an underground church loyal to Rome. Members of the underground church are routinely harassed, beaten and jailed by Chinese authorities.
_ Stacy Meichtry
Supreme Court to Hear Case Related to Faith-based Initiative
WASHINGTON (RNS) The U.S. Supreme Court decided Friday (Dec. 1) to take its first case related to church-state separation since it gained two new justices.
The high court will consider whether three staffers of the Wisconsin-based Freedom from Religion Foundation have standing as individual taxpayers to challenge aspects of the White House Office of Faith-based and Community Initiatives.
The Bush administration appealed the case to the Supreme Court after the Chicago-based 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 2-1 that the plaintiffs did have standing in the case.
“We’re challenging the creation of the White House and Cabinet-level faith-based offices and their conferences that they are holding with taxpayer money,” said Annie Laurie Gaylor, co-president of the foundation and one of the three plaintiffs, in an interview.
“If we don’t have standing, nobody has standing and Bush doesn’t have to answer anyone.”
The government, in its petition to the Supreme Court, argued that the appeals court’s decision has “far-reaching implications” that might give individual citizens “a roving license” to challenge actions of the executive branch that relate to the First Amendment’s Establishment Clause.
Groups concerned about church-state separation say this case could help their cause.
“We believe that no tax money should be spent to advance religion,” said the Rev. Barry W. Lynn, executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State. “It’s essential that the justices uphold the principle that taxpayers can go to court when their money is being used to advance religion.”
Lynn and Gaylor both said they were hopeful that Chief Justice John Roberts and Associate Justice Samuel Alito might show further evidence of general support they expressed for church-state separation during confirmation hearings.
“We welcome this opportunity to make our case and hope that they will uphold the separation of church and state,” Gaylor said.
Arguments are expected to be heard by next spring. If the high court sided with the foundation, the case would return to a lower court for arguments and a decision about its merits.
_ Adelle M. Banks
Poll Says Approval for U.S. Bishops Grows
SYRACUSE, N.Y. (RNS) Approval ratings for U.S. Catholic bishops continue to rebound nearly five years after the clergy sex-abuse scandal emerged in early 2002, according to a Le Moyne College/Zogby International poll.
About 71 percent of American Catholics polled agreed the bishops are doing a good job. That’s up from the lowest level _ 57 percent _ in the fall of 2004 and below the pre-scandal level of 83 percent.
Matthew Loveland, a sociologist of religion who works with the Le Moyne/Zogby poll, attributes the increased support for bishops to decreased interest in the clergy sex-abuse scandal.
“I think this has become a local issue,” Loveland said. “It was a national issue between 2002 and 2004. My guess is it’s no longer present in the minds of average Catholics.”
The survey also found:
_ 83 percent of American Catholics think the pope is doing a good job leading the church.
_ 88 percent think their pastor is doing a good job leading their parish.
_ 67 percent think parishes should be able to choose their priest.
Le Moyne and Zogby, a Utica, N.Y.-based polling organization, have worked together on the Contemporary Catholic Trends project since the fall of 2001.
Zogby conducted telephone interviews between Oct. 5 and Oct. 10 of 1,505 self-identified Roman Catholics. The margin of error is plus or minus 2.6 percentage points, Zogby said.
_ Renee K. Gadoua
Quote of the Day: Evangelical leader the Rev. Jim Wallis
(RNS) “I want to be clear that I am not speaking for the Democratic Party, but as a person of faith who feels the hunger in America for a new vision of our life together, and sees the opportunity to apply our best moral values to the urgent problems we face. I am not an elected official or political partisan, but a religious leader who believes that real solutions must transcend partisan politics.”
_ The Rev. Jim Wallis, chief executive of Sojourners/Call to Renewal, delivering the Democratic response to President Bush’s weekly radio address on Saturday (Dec. 2). Wallis is believed to be the first cleric to deliver the Democratic response.
KRE/PH END RNS
