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Catholic Archdiocese of LA agrees to $880 million settlement over hundreds of sex abuse claims
The Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles has agreed to pay $880 million to settle sex abuse claims made by more than 1,3000 alleged victims dating back to the 1940s.
“I am sorry for everyone one of these incidents, from the bottom of my heart,” said Archbishop José H. Gomez in a statement. “My hope is that this settlement will provide some measure of healing for what these men and women have suffered.”
The settlement brings the overall amount the Archdiocese of Los Anegeles has paid out to settle sex abuse lawsuits to nearly $1.5 billion, following a $660 million settlement with about 500 alleged victims in 2007.
Officials say the agreement in principle was reached to settle the remaining claims filed under Assembly Bill 218, which temporarily waived the statute of limitations for alleged victims to seek damages in sex abuse claims, according to Archbishop Gomez’s statement.
“This is the largest single child sex abuse settlement with a Catholic archdiocese,” said a release from the law firm representing the victims.
Archbishop Gomez approved the settlement and confirmed the administrative office of the Archdiocese will bear the financial responsibility.
“We have determined that funding for this settlement will be drawn from reserves, investments, and loans, along with other Archdiocesan assets and payments that will be made by religious orders and others named in the litigation,” Gomez’s statement said. “No designated donations to parishes or schools or to archdiocesan-wide collections and campaigns … will be used for the financing of this settlement.”
In his letter, Gomez also promised that the church will remain vigilant to make sure that no one serving in the ministry will harm a minor again.
Of the more than 3,000 remaining lawsuits alleging sexual abuse of children that have been filed in California under AB-218, 1,600 were filed in Northern California, 500 in San Diego County and 200 in Orange County, attorneys said. Several California dioceses have filed for bankruptcy protection in the wake of the lawsuits.
“The massive amount of this settlement reflects the amount of grievous harm done to vulnerable children and the decades of neglect, complicity and cover-up by the Archdiocese which allowed known serial predators to inflict this harm. I encourage other religious institutions within the Catholic Church to meet their responsibilities and take accountability,” said the victims’ attorney Morgan A. Stewart.
The U.S. military conducted airstrikes on several Houthi weapons storage facilities in Yemen, the Pentagon said Wednesday.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said in a statement that U.S. Air Force B-2 stealth bombers were part of an operation to conduct “precision strikes” on five underground weapons storage locations in Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen.
“U.S. forces targeted several of the Houthis’ underground facilities housing various weapons components of types that the Houthis have used to target civilian and military vessels throughout the region,” Austin said.
Lloyd said he authorized the strikes at the direction of President Biden.
This marks the latest in several such U.S. airstrikes targeting the Iran-backed Houthi militant group in retaliation for Houthi missile attacks on vessels in the Red Sea. Earlier this month, U.S. Central Command reported that U.S. aircraft and warships had struck 15 targets containing Houthi offensive military capabilities.
The U.S., U.K. and its allies have conducted several rounds of joint strikes on Houthi targets in Yemen dating back to mid-January.
Since November 2023, the Houthis have conducted dozens of missile and drone attacks on commercial and military vessels in the Red Sea in what it says is a response to the Israel-Hamas war. Those attacks caused major supply chain disruptions worldwide. The Houthis have sank two commercial vessels, and a missile attack in March on a Liberian-owned ship in the Gulf of Aden killed three people.
Houthi militants hijacked an Israeli-linked cargo ship last November, taking crew members hostage.
And in an escalation of events, the Houthis directly struck downtown Tel Aviv with a drone in July which killed one person and injured eight others. That attack prompted Israel to retaliate with its own airstrikes in Yemen.
In his statement Lloyd said that “for over a year” the Houthis “have recklessly and unlawfully attacked U.S. and international vessels transiting the Red Sea, the Bab Al-Mandeb Strait, and the Gulf of Aden. The Houthis’ illegal attacks continue to disrupt the free flow of international commerce, threaten environmental catastrophe, and put innocent civilian lives and U.S. and partner forces’ lives at risk.”
In January, the Biden administration declared the Houthis to be a “specially designated global terrorist group.”
contributed to this report.
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