The Catholic Archdiocese of Boston today agreed to pay people who claim they were sexually abused by priests $85 million, the largest settlement yet in a scandal that began here but has shaken the church throughout the nation.
The settlement, announced in a courtroom amid tearful victims and their families, came after numerous attempts for more than a year to reach an agreement under former cardinal Bernard F. Law. He resigned because of his role in the scandal -- acknowledging he transferred pedophile priests from parish to parish -- and was replaced by Archbishop Sean P. O'Malley, who within five weeks was able to broker an agreement with attorneys for the more than 550 victims.
Victims said the settlement will help in the healing process after years of hearing their pleas for help from the church rejected.
"From this day forward, I am no longer an alleged victim," said Gary Bergeron, who along with his younger brother was abused by the late Rev. Joseph Birmingham of Lowell in the 1970s. "I am recognized. I am a survivor."
A spokesman for the archdiocese, the Rev. Christopher Coyne, said, "We are pleased that the parties involved were able to arrive at what we feel is a just and equitable settlement offer to the plaintiffs and their families."
Although the settlement is the largest lump sum any U.S. diocese has agreed to pay at one time to victims of sexual abuse, it is not a record amount on a per-victim basis. Each victim will be paid between $80,000 and $300,000, depending on an arbitrator's assessment of the severity of the abuse suffered. Relatives of abuse victims who joined the suit will be paid $20,000. Lawsuits in other dioceses have brought payments of more than $1 million per plaintiff.
"In pure economic terms, it probably would be considered on the lower end of things," said Jeffrey R. Anderson of St. Paul, Minn., who has represented hundreds of alleged victims in other dioceses and was not involved in the Boston negotiations. "But in terms of bringing a measure of healing, it is enormous."
The latest round of settlement talks began Sunday evening, with a seven-hour session attended by O'Malley. A decade ago he settled a landmark abuse case against the church in Fall River, Mass., and today victims' attorneys credited him with improving the climate of the negotiations since he took over for Law, who since his resignation has moved to a convent in Prince George's County.
"Without his courage," said lawyer Roderick McLeish, whose firm represents more than 200 victims, "none of this would have been possible."
Just days after O'Malley arrived in Boston, he replaced the archdiocese's lawyers and made the first concrete offer to victims since the legal cases began in early 2002. In mid-August, he raised the offer to $65 million, while victims sought at least $90 million.
A deal was concluded today at a downtown law firm, and attorneys for both sides walked a few blocks together to the Massachusetts Superior Court to present the agreement to Judge Constance M. Sweeney, who thanked the parties for their "extraordinary effort."
If more than 20 percent of the victims reject the settlement, negotiations would reopen. But "we expect an overwhelming number to opt in," said William H. Gordon, another attorney for victims. He said that many factors unrelated to money were key to the agreement. Under the deal, the church will continue to pay for counseling for victims and will include some victims on its advisory board.
The settlement brought a palpable sense of relief to one of the most Catholic cities in the country, said Stephen J. Pope, chairman of the theology department at Boston College. "People feel it's about time it happened," he said. Pope said attendance at Boston-area churches has dropped by about a third, with a proportional decline in donations, since the scandal broke in January 2002.
Bishop Wilton D. Gregory of Belleville, Ill., president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, said the agreement "demonstrates that the church is committed to working out just settlements" with survivors of clergy abuse.
But survivors' groups and lay Catholic organizations said church officials are fooling themselves if they think the scandal is now behind them.
"Of course it's tempting to find milestones, but I think it's wishful and dangerous thinking to say we're a giant step closer towards ending this crisis," said David Clohessy, executive director of the 4,000-member Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests.
For some of the victims who have struggled through 18 months of negotiations and a lifetime of unrest over crimes committed against them in their youth, today's news seemed to bring relief, though by no means joy.
"This has never been about money, and the money doesn't give us back what we lost," said Bernie McDade, 47, an abuse victim from Lynn. "I came forward for one reason, and one reason only, because I knew that what happened to me has to stop."