MAHONY'S MEA CULPA CARDINAL OFFERS APOLOGIES TO SEXUAL-ABUSE VICTIMS CLAIMANTS DOUBT SINCERITY.

Byline: SUSAN ABRAM

Staff Writer

Calling sexual abuse by clergy a "terrible sin and crime," Cardinal Roger Mahony apologized Sunday to hundreds of people who claim they were molested by priests in the nation's largest archdiocese.

The apology came during a news conference following Sunday Mass and a day after the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles agreed to pay a record $660 million in a settlement with 508 victims.

"There really is no way to go back and give them that innocence that was taken from them," Mahony said. "The one thing I wish I could give the victims ... I cannot.

"Once again, I apologize to anyone who has been offended, who has been abused. It should not have happened and it will not happen again."

Mahony said he has met with dozens of victims of clergy abuse in the past 14 months and those meetings helped him understand the importance of a quick resolution to the lawsuits.

The cardinal is scheduled to be in court this morning to go over the final settlement. He said the church's decision to settle on the eve of the trials -- which were set to begin today -- had nothing to do with keeping him from testifying.

"My own testifying would not have been a problem," he said.

Mahony said the settlement will not have an impact on the archdiocese's core ministry, but said the church will have to sell buildings, use some of its invested funds, and borrow money. He said the archdiocese will not sell any parish property.

Those claiming to be victims of the abuse have said the settlement was unsatisfying because they wanted their day in court. They also wanted a more sincere apology from Mahony, who they say helped transfer molesters from parish to parish and shield others.

"It's hard to take his apology seriously," said David Clohessy, national director for the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, or SNAP.

"There's such a disconnect between his words and his deeds."

Addressing their accusations, Mahony said that if he had known then what he knew now, he would have made different decisions.

"I made mistakes," he said. "I wish I had known when we sent priests to treatment programs, they (those programs) didn't work."

Standing outside the cathedral, Mary Grant, a spokeswoman for SNAP, said the settlement did not end suffering for the thousands of victims of clergy abuse.

"This is not over," she said. "Church officials would like to think that this settlement means everything is OK. ... But this is not a magic wand."

"This is a giant step, but there are people who want to go to court, to face the priest that abused them," said Carlos Perez-Carrillo, a 41-year- old Sylmar resident who said he was sexually abused by a priest in a parish in Playa del Rey.

"There's no amount of money that's going to return my childhood," Perez-Carrillo said. "There's been years of psychological damage. It's been a long road."

Mahony did not address the record settlement during his Mass on Sunday, but during the intercessions asked that prayers be directed toward the victims of sexual abuse.

The church also posted photos of children abused by priests in a chapel where parishioners could kneel and pray for them.

Most parishioners attending Sunday Mass at the city's cathedral reacted with sympathy for the victims, but opposed the settlement.

Los Angeles resident Sulvia Villeda, 25, said priests were being singled out for harsher treatment than other child molesters.

"The damage is done. The money is not going to fix anything," Villeda said.

Vivian Viscarra, 50, who attends Mass at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels three times a month, said the victims deserve the payout even though it could hurt the church's ability to deliver important services. The amount would average a little more than $1.3 million per plaintiff.

"I am disappointed," Viscarra said. "And it's making me reevaluate my views of whether people in the ministry should be married. People do have needs."

The deal was reached Saturday, said Ray Boucher, the lead plaintiff's attorney. It is by far the largest payout in the church's sexual abuse scandal.

Still, some parishioners like John Torres, visiting from New Mexico, blamed the victims for drawing negative attention to the church.

"I don't believe they should give anybody money," Torres said, adding that the victims, not the church, should be praying for forgiveness.

"They are part of what is making this a nuisance."

Archdiocese attorney Michael Hennigan said he was glad an agreement had finally been reached.

"I think for those of us who have been involved in this for more than five years, it's a huge relief," he said. "But it's a disappointment, too, that we didn't get it done much earlier than this."

The settlement also calls for the release of confidential priest personnel files after review by a judge assigned to oversee the litigation, Boucher said. He said the documents could show whether archdiocese leaders were involved in covering up for abusive priests.

Chris Barra, 40, who attends Mass every Sunday, said she couldn't help thinking about the settlement when she shook Mahony's hand on the way out of the cathedral.

"Even when I was standing there, shaking his hand, I was thinking about how he's finally going to release the priests' personnel records and I wondered to myself why didn't he do that sooner," she said, holding her baby Tomas.

Barra said she was upset that her church contributions would go toward paying the settlement.

"I still want my children to follow the church's guidelines and foundation because that's how I was raised," she said. "But there's still a lot of healing to be done."

In the San Fernando Valley, some parishioners of St. Charles Borromeo in North Hollywood agreed with the victims, saying the money would do little to end the psychological trauma. But many said they stood by the Catholic Church despite all the allegations, adding that the sins of priests should not implicate the entire religion.

"The priests should repent for what they did," said Juan Lopez Reyes, 77, of Van Nuys. "But it's not us who should punish them. If they don't ask for forgiveness, it will be God who punishes them."

One parishioner, who did not wish to give her name, said that while she stood by her church and Catholicism, she was angered that the abuse was hidden.

"I hated that they covered it up," the 40-year-old North Hollywood woman said. "Because of that, they deserve to have their asses sued."

The settlements push the total amount paid out by the U.S. church since 1950 to more than $2 billion, with about a quarter of that coming from the Los Angeles archdiocese. A judge must still sign off on the agreement.

The Los Angeles archdiocese, its insurers and various Roman Catholic orders have already paid more than $114 million to settle 86 claims.

Several religious orders in California have also reached multimillion-dollar settlements in recent months, including the Carmelites, the Franciscans and the Jesuits.

However, 508 other lawsuits against the archdiocese had remained unresolved despite years of legal wrangling. Most of the outstanding lawsuits were filed after a 2002 state law that revoked the statute of limitations for reporting sexual abuse, opening a one-year window to file suits.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

susan.abram(at)dailynews.com

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4 photos

Photo:

(1 -- color) After presiding over Sunday Mass at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels, Cardinal Roger Mahony apologizes one day after the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles agreed to pay a record $660 million in a clergy sex abuse settlement with more than 500 victims.

(2 -- color) Donald L. Kohles uses a sign to express his feelings toward Cardinal Roger Mahony following Sunday Mass at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels.

(3 -- 4) Cardinal Roger Mahony faces a wall of cameras as he apologizes during a news conference Sunday, one day after the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles agreed to pay more than 500 sex-abuse victims a record $660 million settlement.

Gene Blevins/Special to the Daily News