LA Archdiocese Settles 45 Abuse Cases, 500 More to Go

Host:

Warren Olney

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The nation's largest Catholic Archdiocese will pay $60 million to settle cases against 45 priests. Another 500 are waiting to be resolved, and the Archdiocese is still in dispute with insurance companies over those. Meantime, some victims don't like the private settlement process that's been established, saying they'll never know what really happened. We hear from Cardinal Mahony and others.

Last week, Los Angeles Cardinal Roger Mahony announced the settlement of 45 cases of child-sex abuse by Roman Catholic priests worth a total of $60 million. As many as 500 cases are still unsettled, and some of those victims aren't happy about the precedent that's been set. In Boston, many molestation cases went to trial, and personal documents from within the church were made public, revealing such ugly details that Cardinal Bernard Law was reassigned to the Vatican. In Los Angeles, the process used was private mediation rather than public trial. A retired judge will decide what records ultimately will be unsealed, but advocates say many victims will never know what really happened or how the Church allowed known molesters to be reassigned to positions where they could commit new crimes. We hear from Cardinal Mahony and others.

Guests:

Roger Mahony: Cardinal of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles
Chuck Zech: Professor of Economics at Villanova University
Peter Isely: Founding Member of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests
J. Michael Hennigan: Founding Partner of Hennigan, Bennett and Dorman

A CD copy of Which Way L.A.? is a available by calling 1.888.600.5279.
Transcripts are not available.

Underwriters

Which Way L.A.? is made possible in part by the Ralph M. Parsons Foundation, the Nathan Cummings Foundation, and the John Randolph Haynes and Dora Haynes Foundation, which supports study and research into policy issues of the Los Angeles region.

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