Jesuits settle NW abuse claims for $166 million

Share Button

Google.com(AP)

25 March 2011

SEATTLE (AP) — In one of the largest settlements in the Catholic church’s sweeping sex abuse scandal, an order of priests agreed Friday to pay $166.1 million to hundreds of Native Americans and Alaska Natives who were abused at the order’s schools around the Pacific Northwest.

The Jesuit order, called the Oregon Province of the Society of Jesus, has been accused of using its schools in remote villages and on reservations as dumping grounds for problem priests.

Attorneys representing the mostly Native American and Alaskan Native victims said the abuse added to the mistreatment already endured by these children, some of whom were forcibly removed from their homes to attend these schools.

The settlement between the more than 450 victims and the province also calls for a written apology to the victims and disclosure of documents to them, including their medical records.

“It’s a day of reckoning and justice,” said Clarita Vargas, 51, who alleges she and her two sisters were abused by the head of St. Mary’s Mission and School, a former Jesuit-run Indian boarding school on the Colville Indian Reservation near Omak, Wash., in the late 1960s and early 1970s.

The abuse began when they were as young as 6 or 7, she said. “My spirit was wounded, and this makes it feel better.”

St. Mary’s now operates as Paschal Sherman Indian School and is run by the Colville Tribe.

The province ran village and reservation schools in Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana and Alaska. The claims are from victims who were students at schools in all five states.

The Very Rev. Patrick Lee, speaking for the Oregon Province, said the organization would not comment on the settlement announcement because of its ongoing bankruptcy proceedings, “as well as out of respect for the judicial process and all involved.”

He said the province hopes to conclude the bankruptcy process as quickly as possible.

The province previously settled another 200 claims. Then it filed for bankruptcy in 2009, claiming the payments depleted its treasury.

An issue that surfaced when the bankruptcy proceedings got under way was the relationship between the province and other Jesuit properties, such as Gonzaga University. Attorneys for the victims initially argued the province was wealthy because it controls and owns Gonzaga, along with Gonzaga Preparatory School, Seattle University and other schools and properties.

Both Gonzaga and the Jesuit order maintain they are separate entities, and victims’ attorneys did not pursue the issue during bankruptcy negotiations. Neither Gonzaga nor the other schools are contributing to the settlement announced Friday.

California attorney John Manly, who represented some of the abuse victims, contends the Jesuits knowingly put molesters in a position to abuse children.

“It wasn’t an accident. The evidence showed they did it on purpose and it was rape,” Manly said.

He added he was certain not all the victims have come forward, and he believes the pattern of abuse among Catholic priests continues.

Both the order and its insurers are paying into the settlement. About $6 million of the settlement is being set aside for future claims.

Attorney Blaine Tamaki said the priest who molested Vargas and about 100 other children has not been charged with a crime because the statute of limitations in Washington state is so restrictive. A bill before the state’s 2011 Legislature would remove that statute of limitations.

The settlement is believed to be the Catholic Church’s third-largest in the sex abuse cases, behind the Los Angeles Diocese, which agreed to pay $660 million to 508 victims, and the San Diego Diocese, which agreed to pay $198 million to 144 victims, according to the website BishopAccountability.org. 

 ____________________________

US Jesuits agree $166 million abuse payout

Radio Netherlands Worldwide

Published on 26 March 2011 – 2:50am

A US Jesuit order has agreed to pay $166 million to compensate some 500 mostly native American child victims of “horrific” sexual abuse at religious mission schools, lawyers said.

The US Northwest chapter of the Rome-based Society of Jesus agreed to the payout — which lawyers said is the biggest by a religious organization in the United States — as part of bankruptcy proceedings.

Most of those abused by members of the Oregon Province — the Jesuit order covering the states of Oregon, Washington, Alaska, Idaho and Montana — were at mission schools on Indian reservations, from the 1940s through to the 1990s.

“This settlement recognizes that the Jesuits betrayed the trust of hundreds of young children in their care, and inflicted terrible atrocities upon them,” said lawyer Blaine Tamaki.

“These religious figures should have been responsible for protecting children, but instead raped and molested them,” he added.

Victims of the abuse by the Catholic-following order welcomed the settlement.

Katherine Mendez, 53, told how she was abused by Father John Morse, a Jesuit priest, when she entered the St. Mary’s Mission boarding school in Omak, Washington state aged 11.

“Father Morse started abusing me almost immediately when I arrived at St. Mary’s Mission,” she said. “I kept the sexual molestation hidden in the dark, in my soul, for years and years.

“Finally, when I came forward and saw that others did too, it was as if the blanket that had hidden our secret was pulled off and we could move into the light again.”

Another, Theo Lawrence, had wanted to speak out but died last week, before the compensation deal was announced. He was molested by Father Augustine Ferretti, known as “Father Freddy,”and by a nun who worked with the Jesuits.

“The nun or one of the Brothers would send me to the Rectory to see Father Freddy. He would give me candy or call me special — and then he would molest me. They all did at various times,” he said in remarks before his death.

Thirty-eight of the claims involve sexual abuse by Morse, who now lives in a retirement home finance by the Jesuits, it said. Forty-nine of the victims represented by Tamaki were sexually abused when they were eight or younger.

The remaining victims were aged 9-14 when the abuse occurred. Most were abused in the 1950s, 60s and 70s.

The settlement also asks the Jesuits to provide a written apology to the victims, and share documents of importance to victims, such as their personal medical records, he said.

The abuse took place from the 1940s and continued through to the 1990s, he said. Of the nearly 500 claims, nearly 200 were Alaskan claims brought by John Manly of California law firm Manly & Stewart.

Tamaki, whose firm represented nearly a third of the non-Alaskan clients, said he hoped the settlement would help bring closure.

“Although the abuse they suffered was horrific, my clients are hopeful that, with the Jesuits’ acknowledgement of wrongdoing, changes will be made so that that this type of abuse can be prevented in the future.

“In other words, the church needs to correct flaws that have allowed this to happen,” he said.

Patrick Lee, head of the Oregon Province, declined to confirm details of the settlement.

“Due to the Society of Jesus, Oregon Province’s current Chapter 11 bankruptcy status, as well as out of respect for the judicial process and all involved, we will not comment on today’s announcement,” Lee said.

“The province continues to work with the creditors committee to conclude the bankruptcy process as promptly as possible,” he added in a statement.

© ANP/AFP

 ____________________________

Northwest Jesuits to pay out $166.1 million in active abuse claims

Catholic Sentinel

3/26/2011 8:07:00 AM 

The Northwest Jesuits, formerly the Society of Jesus, Oregon Province, along with their insurers have agreed to pay $166.1 million in a bankruptcy settlement aimed at compensating nearly 500 people with active claims of sexual abuse by priests. The settlement is part of a Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization by the religious order. Lawyers in the case announced the settlement yesterday at news conferences across the region. Creditors include about 460 people with sexual-abuse claims against priests and another 15 or 20 with physical-abuse claims. Payments will likely reach claimants by early fall, say officials. Under terms of the global settlement, the Northwest’s Jesuits will pay $48.1 million and their insurer will pay $118 million. About $6 million from the settlement will go into a pool for future claims. The terms also call for a written apology from the province to abuse victims and provide them with documents, such as their personal medical records.  “The province continues to work with the Creditors Committee to conclude the bankruptcy process as promptly as possible,” the Rev. Patrick Lee, head of the Northwest’s Jesuits, said in a statement.The settlement does not dismiss 37 lawsuits filed last month against entities, including Jesuit High School and Gonzaga University, on behalf of abuse victims. Those lawsuits were seeking about $3.1 million that the province had paid out prior to declaring bankruptcy two years ago.In addition, the settlement does not include five to seven claims the lawyers are pursuing against two other insurers for the Jesuits — Travelers Insurance and Atlantic Mutual.The Northwest Jesuits, formerly the Society of Jesus, Oregon Province, along with their insurers have agreed to pay $166.1 million in a bankruptcy settlement aimed at compensating nearly 500 people with active claims of sexual abuse by priests.

The settlement is part of a Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization by the religious order. Lawyers in the case announced the settlement yesterday at news conferences across the region.

Creditors include about 460 people with sexual-abuse claims against priests and another 15 or 20 with physical-abuse claims. Payments will likely reach claimants by early fall, say officials.

Under terms of the global settlement, the Northwest’s Jesuits will pay $48.1 million and their insurer will pay $118 million. About $6 million from the settlement will go into a pool for future claims.

The terms also call for a written apology from the province to abuse victims and provide them with documents, such as their personal medical records.

“The province continues to work with the Creditors Committee to conclude the bankruptcy process as promptly as possible,” the Rev. Patrick Lee, head of the Northwest’s Jesuits, said in a statement.

The settlement does not dismiss 37 lawsuits filed last month against entities, including Jesuit High School and Gonzaga University, on behalf of abuse victims. Those lawsuits were seeking about $3.1 million that the province had paid out prior to declaring bankruptcy two years ago.

In addition, the settlement does not include five to seven claims the lawyers are pursuing against two other insurers for the Jesuits — Travelers Insurance and Atlantic Mutual.

One Response to Jesuits settle NW abuse claims for $166 million

  1. Sylvia says:

    What can I say? What, oh what can I say?

Leave a Reply