The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles has agreed to pay $880 million to 1,353 people who say they were sexually abused as children by clergy dating back decades, the largest settlement involving a U.S. diocese. The settlement came after California enacted a law allowing new lawsuits to be based on past instances of sexual abuse involving minors. Similar legislation in other states has led many Catholic organizations to seek bankruptcy protection to address abuse claims. Archbishop Jose H. Gomez expressed sorrow for the abuse and hopes the settlement will provide some healing for the victims. The Los Angeles Archdiocese reached the settlement without filing for bankruptcy and plans to pay victims from various financial sources without impacting its charitable mission. The attorneys for the Archdiocese and the Plaintiffs’ Liaison Counsel thanked survivors for coming forward and stated that there is justice in holding abusers accountable. The joint statement also emphasized the importance of ensuring that similar abuse does not occur in the future.
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