Spokane, Wash., Jun 1, 2012 / 01:04 am
The Diocese of Spokane, Wash. has reached a mediation agreement in a sex abuse suit that will save parishes from foreclosure, reduce the diocese's legal fees and compensate victims, Bishop Blase J. Cupich announced.
“This is an important and significant turning point in a very sad chapter of our diocesan history,” Bishop Cupich said in a May 27 letter to the diocese’s parishioners.
“We can never forget the harm done to children, who deserved better from the Church and her ministers. Once again, I apologize to the survivors of sexual abuse by clergy and to the families of survivors.”
The Diocese of Spokane reached a bankruptcy agreement in 2007 to pay $48 million to nearly 180 victims of clergy sex abuse from decades ago and to pay lawyers’ fees, the Seattle Times reported. Twenty-two parishes in Spokane County offered their parish properties as collateral to help ensure the claims could be paid, in the belief that foreclosure would be unlikely.