Diocese offers sex abuse settlement
Published 9:00 pm Wednesday, February 1, 2006
SPOKANE – The Roman Catholic Diocese of Spokane is offering $45.7 million to 75 victims of sexual abuse by priests in a deal that includes reforms designed to ensure molestations do not occur in the future, the two sides said Wednesday.
The offer is contingent on approval by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court and acceptance by the 75 victims. But a committee of five victims voted unanimously Tuesday evening to recommend acceptance.
“The deepest feeling I have is a sense of accomplishment that our children and grandchildren are safer and much more protected,” said Mike Shea, an abuse victim and member of the committee that negotiated the deal.
The Spokane Diocese filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in December 2004 because of claims by victims of abuse that totaled about $77 million. The diocese claimed assets of $11 million. It is one of three dioceses that declared bankruptcy in the wake of a nationwide abuse scandal that has rocked the Catholic church.
Spokane Bishop William Skylstad, who also is head of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, made the settlement offer in a letter to the victims’ committee.
At a news conference, Skylstad publicly apologized to the victims “for the terrible wrongs inflicted on you in the past” and urged Catholics to accept the proposed settlement.
“For those who feel this settlement will be a burden for the next several years, a burden we can’t as a church afford, I would say that this scandal is a burden we can no longer afford not to resolve,” Skylstad said.
The money will come from a combination of selling or mortgaging diocese assets, an undetermined sum negotiated from six insurance carriers, and money raised from the Catholic community, which could eventually include the sale or mortgage of parish property.
“We, as a Catholic community, are willing to shoulder our fair share of the burden and take responsibility for significant portions of the total anticipated expense,” Skylstad said, but added he cannot force parishioners to participate in the deal.
The diocese has 30 days to file a motion asking U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Patricia Williams to approve the settlement, while the 75 victims have 120 days to approve to reject the settlement.
The settlement proposal also contains noneconomic conditions designed to prevent future cases of abuse, victims’ attorney James Stang and others said during a separate news conference Wednesday morning:
* Skylstad would be required to go to each parish where abuse occurred to identify the errant clergy; individuals who were abused would be given the opportunity to address parishes; and the diocesan newspaper would devote space to victims to write about their experiences, Stang said.
* The diocese would also refrain from referring to victims as “alleged victims,” Stang said.
* The proposal called for Skylstad to advocate for abolition of statutes of limitations on sex crimes, and to write letters to individuals who were abused and to their families, Stang said.
* The diocese would also add two abuse victims to its board that reviews clergy sex abuse complaints.
