Attorneys representing the victims described the settlement as the largest involving a Catholic archdiocese.
The Archdiocese of Los Angeles has agreed to pay $880 million to settle claims of clergy sexual abuse, marking the largest settlement of its kind with a Catholic archdiocese in the U.S.
The settlement, announced Wednesday, covers more than 1,350 plaintiffs and concludes decades of litigation related to sexual abuse cases involving priests in the nation’s most populous archdiocese.
«I am sorry for every one of these incidents, from the bottom of my heart», Archbishop José H. Gomez said in a statement.
«My hope is that this settlement will provide some measure of healing for what these men and women have suffered», he added.
«I believe that we have come to a resolution of these claims that will provide just compensation to the survivor-victims of these past abuses.»
The announcement follows months of negotiations between attorneys representing the victims and the archdiocese.
The agreement addresses allegations dating back decades, brought hundreds of individuals who claim they were sexually abused by priests within the Los Angeles archdiocese.
