New Orleans Archdiocese agrees to pay nearly $180M to victims of clergy sexual abuse

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NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The Archdiocese of New Orleans agreed to pay nearly $180 million to victims of clergy sexual abuse under a settlement announced Wednesday, the latest in a string of settlements by the Catholic Church.

The archdiocese, its parishes and several insurers will pay $179.2 million into a trust to benefit survivors, according to a statement by the committee that negotiated the agreement. The money will be distributed after the church emerges from bankruptcy, it said.

But many of the survivors were not on board, their lawyers said.

“This proposed settlement was made in a secret backroom deal that the Archdiocese, the creditors committees and the mediators knew the overwhelming majority of victim-survivors would never agree to and will undoubtedly vote down,” attorneys Soren Gisleson, Johnny Denenea and Richard Trahant said in a statement to The Associated Press. “It makes no sense and is a continuation of the lifetime of abuse the Archdiocese has inflicted on these folks.”

The agreement, which would settle a lawsuit filed in 2020, requires approval from the survivors as well as the bankruptcy court and other Archdiocese creditors.

Aaron Hebert, who says he was abused by a priest in the 1960s as an eighth grader, called the deal “an insult and a slap to the face.”

“The Archdiocese of New Orleans and Archbishop (Gregory) Aymond are throwing this offer out to prevent victims and survivors from taking their claims to state court,” Hebert said.

The committee's statement said the deal also includes what it called “unprecedented” provisions and procedures to safeguard against future abuse and provide services to survivors, including a survivors’ bill of rights and changes to the Archdiocese’s process for handling abuse claims.

“I am grateful to God for all who have worked to reach this agreement and that we may look to the future towards a path to healing for survivors and for our local church,” Aymond said in a statement.

The suit involves more than 500 people who say they were abused by clergy. The case produced a trove of church records said to document years of abuse claims and a pattern of leaders transferring clergy without reporting their alleged crimes to law enforcement.

In 2018 the archdiocese released a list identifying more than 50 clergy members who were removed from the ministry over the years due to “credible accusations” of sexual abuse.

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Mustian reported from New York, and Baumann from Bellingham, Washington.