San Diego priests asked to donate a month's salary to lawsuit payoff

Published: 2007-10-11

SAN DIEGO (CNS) -- San Diego Bishop Robert H. Brom has asked his priests to give up a month's salary to help pay the diocese's multimillion dollar settlement with victims of clergy sexual abuse. In an Oct. 2 memo to priests, Bishop Brom also asked parish priests to request donations from their parishioners. Fundraising letters are to be sent out by the end of October; they will be in Spanish, English and perhaps Vietnamese. On Sept. 7 the San Diego Diocese and the San Bernardino Diocese, which was split off from its southern neighbor in 1978, announced an agreement to pay $198.1 million to settle lawsuits with 144 people for abuse suffered between 1938 and 1993. The San Diego Diocese at the time said the settlement "takes us beyond available resources and will result in some damaging consequences for the mission of the church in this diocese for a number of years." The Oct. 2 memo to priests said the diocesan board of deans had decided to "invite everyone in the Diocese of San Diego to make a generous contribution which (1) will help to cover the expense involved in compassionate outreach to our brothers and sisters who suffered sexual abuse within the family of the church, and (2) will allow us to continue the many other responsibilities we have which are also a part of our mission."

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