Sex Abuse Settlements in Australia to Cost Church Another Billion

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DETROIT (ChurchMilitant.com) - In Australia, the Church anticipates paying out AU$1 billion in priestly sex abuse settlements in the next 10 years.

An article on Thursday from U.K.-based The Times tells how the Australian Catholic Church is working with a royal commission to organize a program for paying settlements to sex abuse victims.

The Church in Australia established the Truth, Justice and Healing Council in 2013 to manage the financial settlements for victims of priestly sex abuse. The head of the council, Francis Sullivan, told The Times, "Our analysis is that the national redress scheme proposed by the royal commission over a 10-year period was going to cost in total about AU$4 billion, and of about AU$4 billion, we think our exposure is AU$1 billion."

In comparison, the Catholic Church in the United States has lost about $3 billion owing to the priestly sex abuse crisis. Every year, that amount only continues rising.

The archdiocese of Chicago alone has shelled out over $140 million in sex abuse settlements.

Worse yet, the archdiocese of Los Angeles has had to pay over $660 million to priest sex abuse survivors — a fact which many blame on liberal Cdl. Roger Mahony. Cardinal Mahony retired in 2011, and in 2013 Los Angeles Abp. Jose Gomez removed the retired prelate from public ministry in the archdiocese, citing the cardinal's failure to address the sex abuse crisis.

As Church Militant reported this week, the archdiocese of New York and the diocese of Brooklyn reached settlements on Wednesday with six-sex abuse victims, costing a total of $1.8 million.

Cardinal George Pell from Australia was accused of sex abuse earlier this year. However, Cdl. Pell has claimed that the accusations are false and is currently facing them in a Melbourne court.

Cardinal Pell has a reputation for theological orthodoxy.

Though the secular media has slammed Pell in the past, accusing him of covering up sex abuse, Pell has actually played a significant role in the fight against the priestly sex abuse crisis. In 1996, he founded what became known as the Melbourne Response.

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