Fosco was raised Catholic. Thank goodness that's all over. But sometimes Fosco thinks back to his days as an altar boy at St Linda's and how he was lucky to evade the romantic attentions of Father Fingers.
We all know that the Catholic Church's response to sexual molestation has been completely shameful. But you know what else is shameful? That millions of Catholics continue to give money to the Church every week at Mass. The Church took advantage of its members (and their young sons) for decades; now it continues to take advantage of the financial resources of its members to pay for the sins of its priests.
This is all old news, of course, but Fosco got angry again today as he was reminded of the scale of it all:
- Archdiocese of Los Angeles, 2007, agrees to pay $660 million to about 500 people.
- Diocese of San Diego, 2007, agrees to pay $198 million to 144 people.
- Diocese of Orange, Calif., 2004, $100 million for 90 abuse claims.
- Diocese of Covington, Ky., 2006, up to $84 million for more than 350 people.
- Archdiocese of Boston, 2003, $84 million for 552 claims.
- Diocese of Oakland, Calif., 2005, $56 million to 56 people.
- Archdiocese of Portland, Ore., 2007, agrees to pay about $52 million to 175 victims to emerge from bankruptcy protection; sets aside another $20 million for any future claims.
- Diocese of Spokane, Wash., 2007, agrees to pay $48 million for about 150 claims to emerge from bankruptcy protection.
- Diocese of Sacramento, Calif., 2005, pays $35 million to 33 people.
- Archdiocese of Louisville, Ky., 2003, $25.7 million to 243 victims.
- Diocese of Tucson, Ariz., 2005, agrees to fund a settlement trust worth about $22 million for more than 50 victims to emerge from bankruptcy protection.
This is all money that could have been spent on education or on charity. If you are Catholic and you care about educating children or alleviating suffering, maybe you should think about withholding your money from the Church and giving it to a non-religious charity.
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