Clergy Abuse

Any examination of the sexual abuse crisis afflicting the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles leads inevitably to a bell-towered campus in the rolling hills of Camarillo: St. John's Seminary. The 66-year-old institution has trained hundreds of clerics for the archdiocese and smaller jurisdictions across Southern California and beyond. It is the alma mater of Cardinal Roger M. Mahony, Diocese of Orange Bishop Tod Brown and other prominent prelates.

WHEN Times editors assigned me to the religion beat, I believed God had answered my prayers. As a serious Christian, I had cringed at some of the coverage in the mainstream media. Faith frequently was treated like a circus, even a freak show. I wanted to report objectively and respectfully about how belief shapes people's lives. Along the way, I believed, my own faith would grow deeper and sturdier. But during the eight years I covered religion, something very different happened.

Pope Benedict XVI has raised expectations that he will apologize to victims of clergy sexual abuse while he is in Australia this week. The 81-year-old pontiff told reporters during a flight to Australia for a nine-day visit starting Sunday that he would do everything possible to achieve "healing and reconciliation with the victims."

Alleged victims of clergy sexual abuse on Sunday challenged the Archdiocese of Boston to improve the $55-million offer it extended to 542 abuse victims last week, calling it inadequate in helping to mend shattered lives. At a news conference outside the archdiocese's chancery grounds, members of several victims' groups said the settlement must not fall short, because it will be a model for other large-scale abuse cases around the nation.

In a chillingly frank account, a former Roman Catholic priest, promoted 20 years ago by Roger M. Mahony, recently described his decades-long career as a pedophile, including his sexual tastes and how he groomed his young victims for abuse. In a 15-hour videotaped deposition in March, Oliver O'Grady described how his heart raced when one of the slim, playful boys he preferred toweled off after a swim. He also said he liked to lift little girls' skirts and peek at their underpants.

The Boston Archdiocese said it had settled lawsuits filed by four people who claimed they were sexually abused by the Rev. Paul R. Shanley, a key figure in the clergy sex abuse scandal in the Roman Catholic church. Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed. However, an attorney for the plaintiffs said each would get more than the maximum of $300,000 that 550 other alleged victims were set to receive in the $85-million settlement reached in September.

If attorneys for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Spokane do not reach a settlement with dozens of alleged victims of clergy sex abuse, the diocese may be forced to declare bankruptcy, Bishop William Skylstad said. Skylstad issued the warning in a letter sent to parishioners in preparation for settlement talks this week with 28 alleged victims of a former priest who has admitted sexually abusing boys.

Frustrated by a lack of indictments against church leaders in the clergy sex abuse scandal, victims' groups pledged to work with the state's attorney general to toughen child abuse laws and establish an independent board to review abuse allegations against priests. Seven alleged victims and their advocates met with Atty. Gen. Tom Reilly, one day after his office issued a report detailing widespread sexual abuse by priests in the Boston Archdiocese over the last six decades.