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CNS Story:
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ABUSE-COSTS Mar-31-2006 (410 words) xxxn
Cost of clergy sex abuse now exceeds $1.5 billion
By Jerry Filteau
Catholic News Service
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- The cumulative financial cost to the U.S. Catholic Church for clerical sexual abuse of minors is now more than $1.5 billion and still climbing.
A new report released March 30 by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops said U.S. dioceses, eparchies (Eastern-rite dioceses) and religious orders spent $467 million last year in settlements, therapy for victims and abusers, attorney fees and other costs related to sexual abuse of minors by priests or deacons.
A similar national survey the previous year revealed costs of $158 million.
An extensive national study of the U.S. church's sexual abuse costs from 1950 to 2002, completed in early 2004, revealed costs during that period of at least $573 million.
The bishops did no national survey of 2003 costs, but a review of Catholic News Service archives shows that diocesan payments just for settlements and victim compensation funds that year ran more than $180 million.
If other 2003 costs such as attorney fees and therapy were even close to such other costs in 2004, the total abuse-related cost for dioceses in 2003 would likely have been well over $220 million. Such other costs totaled more than $51 million in 2004.
Nor is any nationwide tally publicly available for religious order costs in 2003. Religious orders accounted for more than $18 million of the church costs tallied in the 2004 national survey and more than $21 million in 2005.
Using a very conservative estimate of $225 million for total costs to dioceses and religious orders in 2003, the total church cost for clergy sexual abuse from 1950 through 2005 was at least $1,423,000,000.
In the first three months of 2006, settlements by four dioceses -- Boston, Covington, Ky., and Davenport and Dubuque in Iowa -- totaled more than $97 million.
Without even considering any other church costs accumulated so far in 2006, those settlements brought the U.S. church's total cost for clergy sexual abuse of minors since 1950 beyond the $1.5 billion mark.
Among major settlements yet to come are those in the Los Angeles Archdiocese, which has more than 500 cases pending, and in the Portland Archdiocese in Oregon and the Spokane Diocese in Washington, which have entered federal bankruptcy proceedings because of the number and size of legal claims filed against them for clergy sexual abuse.
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Contributing to this story was Cassandra Shieh in the CNS information services department.
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Copyright (c) 2006 Catholic News Service/USCCB. All rights reserved.
This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed.
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