The Roman Catholic archdiocese of Los Angeles has agreed to pay $880m to 1,353 people who alleged that they were sexually abused as children by Catholic priests, in the largest settlement by a US diocese over decades-old abuse claims.
Archbishop Jose H Gomez expressed sorrow for the abuse in announcing the settlement on Wednesday.
“I am sorry for every one of these incidents, from the bottom of my heart,” Gomez said in a statement. “My hope is that this settlement will provide some measure of healing for what these men and women have suffered.”
The archdiocese began mediating the abuse claims after California enacted a law that allowed new lawsuits to be based on past instances of sexual abuse involving minors.
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