Clergy Abuse: Twin Cities’ Archdiocese To Pay $210 Million To 450 Victims

The Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis agreed to a $210 million settlement with 450 victims of clergy sexual abuse as part of its bankruptcy reorganization, an attorney for the victims’ said Thursday.

The settlement, if approved by a federal judge overseeing the case, will be the second largest payout in the history of the Catholic Church’s priest sex abuse scandal. The total payout comes to $210,290, 724, of which about $40 million will be paid by the diocese and the rest by its insurers, officials of the church said.

The largest payout of any kind was in 2007 when the Los Angeles Archdiocese made a settlement of $660 million with 508 victims.

Attorney for the victims, Jeff Anderson, said the settlement was reached with the diocese and the victims, and added it includes accountability measures. Anderson also said the amount for each victim was yet to be decided. However, he did not elaborate the process that went into determining how much money each victim would get, Time reported.

“I recognize that the abuse stole so much from you — your childhood, your innocence, your safety, your ability to trust, and in many cases your faith," Archbishop Bernard Hebda said, while announcing the settlement. “Relationships with family and friends, relationships in your parishes and communities were harmed, lives were forever changed. The church let you down. I am very sorry.”

Several victims expressed relief over the settlement and talked about the trauma of the abuse.

“There have been so many times that what was done to me has interfered with the joy of being a mother,” said Marie Mielke, a sexual abuse survivor who was abused by a priest when she was 12 years old, USA Today reported.

“This has been a long day coming,” said Jim Keenan, a victim who was also the former chairman of the Creditors Committee in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis bankruptcy case. “It’s a triumph. I realize that the work is not yet done. There’s lots of work around the world to be done.”

Anderson said 91 clergy members accused of sexual abuses were listed and exposed. He added several top archdiocese officials’ roles were revealed in the covering up of the abuse, among them former Archbishop John Nienstedt and former vicar general Kevin McDonough.

The decision for the settlement came after the Minnesota Legislature opened a three-year window in 2013 in the statute of limitations for sexually abused people to come forward and sue for damages. This led to many cases being filed and ultimately the archdiocese filing for bankruptcy in 2015.

The archdiocese argued their net worth was $45 million, while the victims’ attorneys claimed it was over $1 billion if the assets such as 187 Roman Catholic parishes, schools, cemeteries, etc. were taken into consideration.

But, last month a federal appeals court confirmed a 2016 decision by the United States Bankruptcy Judge Robert Kressel that said the parishes and such assets of archdiocese cannot be tapped for the bankruptcy case.