New Orleans – The New Orleans diocese agreed to pay nearly $ 180 million to victims of sexual assault under a settlement announced on Wednesday, which is the latest in a series of settlements by the Catholic Church.
The diocese, its dioceses and several insurance companies will pay $ 179.2 million in confidence in favor of the survivors, according to a statement issued by the committee that negotiated the agreement. She said that the money will be distributed after the church appeared from bankruptcy.
Their lawyers said that many survivors were not on board.
“This proposed settlement was made in a secret deal in the background room in which the diocese and committees of creditors and mediators did not agree that the vast majority of the victims and the victim will not agree to vote on the amount,” Lawyers Surin Jesslison, Johnny Dinia and Richard Tre said in a statement to the Associated Agency. “It is not logical and does not represent a continuation of the age of misuse of the diocese of these people.”
The agreement, which would settle a lawsuit submitted in 2020, requires approval from the survivors as well as the bankruptcy court and the creditors of other diocese.
Aaron Heppert, who says he was offended by a priest in the 1960s as a student in the eighth grade, “insulting a recipe on the face.”
“The diocese of New Orleans and the head of bishops (Gregory), Imooni, throws this offer to prevent victims and survivors from taking their claims to the state court,” he said.
The committee’s statement said that the deal also includes what it called “unprecedented” provisions and procedures to protect against abuse in the future and provide services to survivors, including the Law of Survivors’ Rights and Changes in a Diocese Operation to deal with 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 the path of healing for the survivors and our local church,” Iamand said in a statement.
The lawsuit includes more than 500 people who say they have been abused by clerics. The case produced a group of church records that are said to document years of abuse allegations and a pattern of leaders who transport clerics without reporting their alleged crimes of law enforcement.
In 2018, the diocese of a list determined more than 50 clerics who were removed from the ministry over the years due to “reliable accusations” of sexual assault.
