Church Abuse Settlements Top $1 Billion

The cost to the U.S. Roman Catholic Church of sexual predators in the priesthood has climbed past $1 billion, according to tallies by American bishops and an Associated Press review of known settlements.

And the figure is expected to rise, probably by tens of millions of dollars, because hundreds more claims are pending.

Dioceses nationwide have spent at least $1.06 billion on settlements with victims, verdicts, legal fees, counseling and other expenses since 1950, Associated Press found. A $120-million compensation fund announced last week by the Diocese of Covington, Ky., pushed the figure past the $1-billion mark.

Associated Press calculated the price from settlement announcements and from reports commissioned by the nation’s bishops, including a study by the John Jay College of Criminal Justice of claims from 1950 to 2002. Victims’ groups say the church has underestimated the cost.

A large share of the costs -- at least $378 million -- have been incurred in the last three years, when the crisis erupted in the Boston Archdiocese and spread nationwide.

Father Thomas P. Doyle, who left a career with the church to help represent victims, warned the bishops in 1985 that abuse costs could exceed $1 billion.

“Nobody believed us,” said Doyle, a canon lawyer. “I remember one archbishop telling me, ‘My feeling about this, Tom, is no one’s ever going to sue the Catholic Church.’ ”

Asked about the figure, a spokesman for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, Msgr. Francis Maniscalco, said church leaders believed the payouts “should be just to all sides.”

He said victims deserved compensation, but the church must also have enough money to continue serving parishioners.

The bishops are set to meet in Chicago next week to review their plan for protecting youngsters.