MILWAUKEE (WI)
Reuters
BY BRENDAN O’BRIEN
The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Milwaukee has reached a $21 million settlement with 330 victims of sexual abuse by clergy, church officials said on Tuesday.
The settlement will be filed as part of the church’s plan to restructure in U.S. Bankruptcy Court on Aug. 24, more than four years after the archdiocese filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, Archbishop Jerome Listecki said in a statement.
“Today, we turn the page on a terrible part of our history and we embark on a new road lined with hope, forgiveness and love,” Listecki said.
The U.S. Catholic Church has been hit with a series of sexual abuse accusations aimed mainly at clergy who targeted youths over the past two decades. The scandals have cost the U.S. church about $3 billion in settlements and driven prominent dioceses like Milwaukee’s into bankruptcy.
The archdiocese filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2011, citing the financial drain of settling sexual-abuse claims and acknowledging missteps by the church in dealing with pedophile priests.
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