Sunday, March 27, 2011

Jesuit Order To Pay $166M To Native American Sexual Abuse Victims

"In one of the largest monetary payouts nationwide in the Roman Catholic Church's sexual abuse crisis, and the largest one by a religious order, the Jesuit order in the Northwest has agreed to pay $166.1 million to about 500 abuse victims as part of its bankruptcy settlement," The Seattle Times writes.

As The Associated Press adds, the payments will go to "hundreds of American Indians and Alaska Natives who were abused at the Catholic order's schools around the region. The settlement also asks the order to provide a written apology to the victims and to share documents with them such as their personal medical records."

The order is the Oregon Province of the Society of Jesus, which had schools in Oregon, Washington state, Idaho, Montana and Alaska.

The Times adds that "before filing for bankruptcy in February 2009 ... [the order] had already settled about 200 abuse claims totaling more than $55 million.

Many of the abuses date back to the 1960s.