La Diocese Pays For Abuse - Road to the Middle Class

THE ROMAN Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles has agreed to pay out over $600 million to plaintiffs to settle claims of sexual abuse by clergy, reports the Associated Press.

The settlement pushes the total amount paid out by the U.S. church since 1950 to more than $2 billion, with about a quarter of that amount paid by the Los Angeles Archdiocese.

It is, of course, right and proper that the Catholic Church should be held to account for the abusive behavior of its priests and religious.

And it is a tragedy that the hard work and the contributions of lay Catholics, who responded to the call made in the nineteenth century to first build the school and then build the church, should be paid out in this way.

What many of us would like to know, and of course what we can never know, is whether the abuses represent the culture of the pre-Vatican II culture or the post-Vatican II culture, or both.

The simple answer, of course, is that all organizations, secular or religious, big or little, cover up to protect the institution. And in the effort to hide the truth the individuals that the institution is sworn to serve get chewed up and spat out.

The Catholic Church can be grateful that this evil has been brought to the light. Other great institutions should take note, and clean out their stables before it is too late.

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Christopher Chantrill blogs at www.roadtothemiddleclass.com. His Road to the Middle Class is forthcoming.

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