ST. PAUL, Minn. - The Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis has agreed to a $210 million settlement with victims of clergy sexual abuse as part of a plan for bankruptcy reorganization.
Victims' attorney Jeff Anderson says 450 victims of sexual abuse at the hands of clergy came forward as part of the archdiocese's bankruptcy case.
"They have to listen to victims now and that is huge. It's worth more than the red number on the bottom of the page," said Jim Keenan, a clergy abuse survivor.
Anderson says the settlement was reached with the survivors and the archdiocese and includes accountability measures while it also "advances the ball of child protection." He listed a number of accomplishments in pursuit of justice and a settlement. The list includes:
- 91 clerical offenders exposed and listed
- Over 100,000 pages of secret documents (Anderson claims the number is closer to 200,000) uncovered and released
- Roles of top Archdiocese officials revealed, leading to them being deposed. Anderson mentioned former Archbishop John Nienstedt and former vicar general of the archdiocese Kevin McDonough specifically
- The involvement of top law enforcement professionals and prosecutors in overseeing the internal review of the St. Paul-Minneapolis Archdiocese.
The Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis says it will work to expedite payments to sexual abuse survivors.
The bulk of the money comes from insurance carriers, with some also coming from the archdiocese, parishes, a pension fund and some sales of real estate.
"The church let you down. I'm very sorry," Archbishop Bernard Hebda said. "I sure hope for those who have been harmed in the past, that this brings closure for them. We've been working very carefully to try and formulate this in a way that benefits them to the maximum."
Marie Mielke, a sexual abuse survivor, said, "...we do this for the children, for the children's names we will never have to know... There are so many children that we are protecting."
In 2013, the Minnesota Legislature opened a three-year window in the statute of limitations that allowed alleged victims of prior abuse to sue for damages. That resulted in hundreds of claims being filed against the archdiocese and led it to file for bankruptcy in 2015.
