The nation's largest Catholic archdiocese will settle its clergy sex abuse cases for at least $600 and as high as $660 million -- the largest payout in the church's sexual abuse scandal.
A news conference is scheduled for today to discuss the specifics.
Some Roman Catholic orders — the Servites, Clairites and Oblates — will be carved out of the agreement because they refused to participate.
The settlement also calls for the release of confidential priest personnel files after review by a judge assigned to oversee the litigation.
The release was important to the agreement, plaintiffs attorneys say, because it could reveal whether archdiocesan leaders, like Los Angeles Archbishop Cardinal Roger Mahoney, were involved in covering up for abusive priests.
MAHONEY APOLOGIZES, TOO LITTLE TOO LATE?
Mahony recently told parishioners in an open letter that the archdiocese was selling its high-rise administrative building and considering the sale of about 50 other nonessential church properties to raise funds for a settlement.
A superior court judge overseeing the cases recently ruled that Mahony could be called to testify in the second trial on schedule, and attorneys for plaintiffs wanted to call him in many more.
The same judge also cleared the way for four people to seek punitive damages.
Plaintiff Steven Sanchez, who was expected to testify in the first trial, said he was simultaneously relieved and disappointed. He sued the archdiocese claiming abuse by the late Rev. Clinton Hagenbach, who died in 1987.
"I was really emotionally ready to take on the archdiocese in court in less than 48 hours, but I'm glad all victims are going to be compensated," he said. "I hope all victims will find some type of healing in this process."
The settlement is the largest ever by a Roman Catholic diocese since the clergy sexual abuse scandal erupted in Boston in 2002. The largest payout so far has been by the Diocese of Orange, Calif., in 2004, for $100 million.
Facing a flood of abuse claims, five dioceses — Tucson, Ariz.; Spokane, Wash.; Portland, Ore.; Davenport, Iowa, and San Diego — sought bankruptcy protection.
The Los Angeles archdiocese, its insurers and various Roman Catholic orders have paid more than $114 million to settle 86 claims so far. The largest of those came in December, when the archdiocese reached a $60 million settlement with 45 people.
The settlements push the total amount paid out by the U.S. church since 1950 to more than $2 billion, with about a quarter of that coming from the Los Angeles archdiocese.
By GILLIAN FLACCUS (AP)