Archdiocese to seek $200 million from parishoners to pay for scandal

By Catholic Online (NEWS CONSORTIUM)
2/6/2013
Catholic Online (www.catholic.org)

Final decision on campaign rests with Archbishop Gomez.

The Archdiocese of Los Angeles is seeking ways to raise $200 million to help pay expenses related to the sex abuse scandal and cover up perpetrated by Cardinal Mahony and others in the hierarchy. Archbishop Gomez has contracted with a New York firm to study the feasibility of a fundraising campaign.

It remains to be seen if parishioners will pay the costs of the scandal.

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LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - Archbishop Gomez and Catholics across the archdiocese are seeking to put behind them the sex abuse scandal that has stemmed from abusive priests who molested children during the 1970s and 80s. Those incidents of abuse were systematically covered up and unreported to authorities as Cardinal Mahony and other church officials sought to protect the reputation of the church.

Those cases and their cover up resulted in a civil suit in which a judge leveled a $660 million verdict against the archdiocese. To pay the costs, the archdiocese has already sold numerous assets and tapped into financial reserves. Still, the archdiocese needs additional finds to satisfy the judgment.

The possible fundraiser will try to raise $175 million pay outstanding debt from the verdict. The archdiocese is still paying off loans that it took to pay the initial part of the settlement.

The funds generated by the new drive will be split between paying off the settlement as well as various projects which will provide general upkeep and repair of the churches and school facilities.

If the campaign moves forward, it will be the first such campaign since 1949. In 1949, a church fundraising campaign brought in $3.5 million.

� 2013, Distributed by NEWS CONSORTIUM.

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Pope Benedict XVI's Prayer Intentions for January 2013
General Intention: The Faith of Christians. That in this Year of Faith Christians may deepen their knowledge of the mystery of Christ and witness joyfully to the gift of faith in him.
Missionary Intention: Middle Eastern Christians. That the Christian communities of the Middle East, often discriminated against, may receive from the Holy Spirit the strength of fidelity and perseverance.

Keywords: Gomez, Mahony, Curry, sex abuse, children, molestation, church, cover up, documents, settlement, fundraising, campaign

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1 - 5 of 5 Comments

Stephen Browning
3 months ago
May God have mercy on our Church
and for all of the Souls we have lost because
of the sex abuse and Vatileaks scandals.
John Mainhart
3 months ago
That is the California way. Out there they act like our federal Goivernment. Kick the can down the road then find someone to cover the cost. All love is ,local as is sin. We all must suffer in order to get closer to God so if something terrible happens in your family the entire family suffers even if most of the members are not responsible for the evil that occurs. We should not nationalize our problems. That is a major reason we have the problems we have in this country and the reason we never truly suffer with those whom ,we are supposed to love, those of us who sin in our community.
Joe
3 months ago
Sounds like Diocese of LA has a problem. They caused this problem and they should solve it. There is no mention of the bishops who did not react to the problem, As a christain, I have no interest in giving these sinners a dime. How are they ever expected to save souls, if they can not be trusted with our children.
bless kleckner
3 months ago
As a fellow Catholic I'm sure that the Bishop knew about this and it was silenced. We are expected to pay has parishioners to cover cost. Sounds like our government. Why are good people expected to cover for mistakes....if we make costly mistakes we have to cover our costs. God allows so much money for us to use, granted we should help the misfortune. As for myself I would give ties to the church, but helping clean up may be another story...
Kathy
3 months ago
Let the church sell off property to pay for this, they hid these monsters for years, moving them to other churches to abuse again. I will not be guilted into paying one dime toward this.

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