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American Morning

Church Settlement

Aired September 09, 2003 - 09:10   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Years of protest and legal wrangling could be coming to an end in Boston. A legal source says that hundreds of people who claimed have been abused by clergy members have reached a settlement with the Boston archdiocese.
With details, we go to CNN's Dan Lothian. He is joining us from Boston this morning.

Dan, good morning.

DAN LOTHIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad.

Well, indeed a source close to the talks tells CNN that lawyers for some 542 alleged victims of clergy abuse notice Boston archdiocese have reached an agreement, a settlement agreement. Here are the terms of that agreement. The amount $85 million. 80 percent of the alleged victims have signed onto the deal. They will all receive between $80,000 to $300,000, depending on the severity of the abuse. These cases dating back to 1950s. Churches also agreed in the settlement to provide therapy to the alleged victims. A press conference is scheduled for later today. The settlement comes after secret meetings which took place Sunday night, also secret meetings last night. But a source telling CNN that this case will be finalized today -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Give me a sense of the role of the archbishop O'Malley in this, Shawn O'Malley. How much credit is he getting for finally putting all of this to rest?

LOTHIAN: Reporter: Well, obviously, he has played a major role in the settlement talks. He came in, after Cardinal Bernard Law stepped down in the wake of all of the sex scandals in the Catholic Church, and when he came on board, some of the victims felt like this was the best chance that they had of reaching a settlement. Some 11 years ago he played a major role in reaching a settlement in another abuse case, and so he certainly was involved in these talks. In fact, took part in the secret talks that happened on Sunday night. So certainly will be receiving a lot of credit for this settlement.

O'BRIEN: All right, Dan Lothian, joining us from Boston this morning. Dan, thanks for that.

For a little bit more on the proposed settlement, Mark Serrano. He is an alleged victim of abuse who represents SNAP, the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests. He joins us live from our bureau here in New York City.

Good morning to you, Mark. Nice to see you. MARK SERRANO, ALLEGED VICTIM OF CLERGY ABUSE: Good morning. You, too, Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Thank you.

Give me your sense of your first reaction to this settlement, this number $85 million?

SERRANO: Well, Soledad, there are 550 victims who are part of this settlement in Boston, and I think their courage through this settlement process is what first strikes me. And there will be this inclination to give all of the credit to Bishop O'Malley, and I understand that because he got to work quickly. But it's those victims who have suffered greatly and suffered to this day. Money, honestly, does not heal those wounds, it simply provides an acknowledgement of the cover-ups conducted by the church over all these decades.

O'BRIEN: OK, so if everyone's willing to say the credit for finally being able to come to the negotiating table goes across to everybody involved, do you feel good about this figure, $85 million?

SERRANO: You know, we can never feel good about any figure. Money is not the solution. No amount will heal the wounds from child rape at the hands of priests that people live with to this day and will carry those wounds for the rest of their lives.

More importantly, and to the credit of Archbishop O'Malley to say in a few short weeks, he was able to reach a reasonable settlement, and that I think is a clarion call to bishops across America to settle these cases and allow healing to begin in the lives of victims who still carry the scars today. Even in Boston, that represents half of the victims the attorney general says exist in Boston.

O'BRIEN: Eighty percent signed on. Why do you think 20 percent, a fairly large percentage, did not?

SERRANO: Well, I think they're probably still considering it. And I think this is great trauma for them. This is something that they've lived with, this is something they've been seeking, and yet, I think a lot of them know that money is not the solution. Document disclosure and speaking out, more victims speaking out, are really the solutions to protect children today, and so there's a great traumatic conflict, I would suggest, in a lot of victims about reaching a settlement.

O'BRIEN: Part of the settlement was also that the church will provide psychological therapy for the alleged victims. How critical was that in all of this, do you think, that being on the table?

SERRANO: Well, it's very important, because victims have got to have that resource in their lives to start to heal. But I would point out to you, too, Soledad, that this is no act of charity on the part of the church. The church, by this settlement, is able to end further document disclosure on these cases, able to stay out of court and to limit exposure. And so it's not an act of charity. And I think counseling is a key component to any settlement so that victims have resources they need in their lives with the pain that they continue to live in.

O'BRIEN: Mark Serrano, nice to see you as always. Thanks for joining us.

We should also mention that we have not yet been able to reach church officials to get their comments on this settlement yet.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com







Aired September 9, 2003 - 09:10   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Years of protest and legal wrangling could be coming to an end in Boston. A legal source says that hundreds of people who claimed have been abused by clergy members have reached a settlement with the Boston archdiocese.
With details, we go to CNN's Dan Lothian. He is joining us from Boston this morning.

Dan, good morning.

DAN LOTHIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad.

Well, indeed a source close to the talks tells CNN that lawyers for some 542 alleged victims of clergy abuse notice Boston archdiocese have reached an agreement, a settlement agreement. Here are the terms of that agreement. The amount $85 million. 80 percent of the alleged victims have signed onto the deal. They will all receive between $80,000 to $300,000, depending on the severity of the abuse. These cases dating back to 1950s. Churches also agreed in the settlement to provide therapy to the alleged victims. A press conference is scheduled for later today. The settlement comes after secret meetings which took place Sunday night, also secret meetings last night. But a source telling CNN that this case will be finalized today -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Give me a sense of the role of the archbishop O'Malley in this, Shawn O'Malley. How much credit is he getting for finally putting all of this to rest?

LOTHIAN: Reporter: Well, obviously, he has played a major role in the settlement talks. He came in, after Cardinal Bernard Law stepped down in the wake of all of the sex scandals in the Catholic Church, and when he came on board, some of the victims felt like this was the best chance that they had of reaching a settlement. Some 11 years ago he played a major role in reaching a settlement in another abuse case, and so he certainly was involved in these talks. In fact, took part in the secret talks that happened on Sunday night. So certainly will be receiving a lot of credit for this settlement.

O'BRIEN: All right, Dan Lothian, joining us from Boston this morning. Dan, thanks for that.

For a little bit more on the proposed settlement, Mark Serrano. He is an alleged victim of abuse who represents SNAP, the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests. He joins us live from our bureau here in New York City.

Good morning to you, Mark. Nice to see you. MARK SERRANO, ALLEGED VICTIM OF CLERGY ABUSE: Good morning. You, too, Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Thank you.

Give me your sense of your first reaction to this settlement, this number $85 million?

SERRANO: Well, Soledad, there are 550 victims who are part of this settlement in Boston, and I think their courage through this settlement process is what first strikes me. And there will be this inclination to give all of the credit to Bishop O'Malley, and I understand that because he got to work quickly. But it's those victims who have suffered greatly and suffered to this day. Money, honestly, does not heal those wounds, it simply provides an acknowledgement of the cover-ups conducted by the church over all these decades.

O'BRIEN: OK, so if everyone's willing to say the credit for finally being able to come to the negotiating table goes across to everybody involved, do you feel good about this figure, $85 million?

SERRANO: You know, we can never feel good about any figure. Money is not the solution. No amount will heal the wounds from child rape at the hands of priests that people live with to this day and will carry those wounds for the rest of their lives.

More importantly, and to the credit of Archbishop O'Malley to say in a few short weeks, he was able to reach a reasonable settlement, and that I think is a clarion call to bishops across America to settle these cases and allow healing to begin in the lives of victims who still carry the scars today. Even in Boston, that represents half of the victims the attorney general says exist in Boston.

O'BRIEN: Eighty percent signed on. Why do you think 20 percent, a fairly large percentage, did not?

SERRANO: Well, I think they're probably still considering it. And I think this is great trauma for them. This is something that they've lived with, this is something they've been seeking, and yet, I think a lot of them know that money is not the solution. Document disclosure and speaking out, more victims speaking out, are really the solutions to protect children today, and so there's a great traumatic conflict, I would suggest, in a lot of victims about reaching a settlement.

O'BRIEN: Part of the settlement was also that the church will provide psychological therapy for the alleged victims. How critical was that in all of this, do you think, that being on the table?

SERRANO: Well, it's very important, because victims have got to have that resource in their lives to start to heal. But I would point out to you, too, Soledad, that this is no act of charity on the part of the church. The church, by this settlement, is able to end further document disclosure on these cases, able to stay out of court and to limit exposure. And so it's not an act of charity. And I think counseling is a key component to any settlement so that victims have resources they need in their lives with the pain that they continue to live in.

O'BRIEN: Mark Serrano, nice to see you as always. Thanks for joining us.

We should also mention that we have not yet been able to reach church officials to get their comments on this settlement yet.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com