INQUISITION NEWS: Jesuit order to pay abuse victims $162m

US Jesuit order to pay $162m to abuse victims

A Jesuit order in the US has agreed to pay A$162 million to compensate nearly 500 victims of sexual and psychological abuse by priests in five states, lawyers said, according to an AFP report on the ABC.

The US north-west chapter of the Society of Jesus agreed to the payout, which lawyers said is the biggest by a religious organisation in the US, as part of bankruptcy proceedings.

Most of those abused by priests from the Oregon Province - which covers the states of Oregon, Washington, Alaska, Idaho and Montana - were Native Americans at mission schools on Indian reservations.

"This settlement recognises the Jesuits betrayed the trust of hundreds of young children in their care," said lawyer Blaine Tamaki.

Victims of the abuse have been watching the case closely, including Clarita Vargas, who said the announcement marked "a day of reckoning and justice".

"I feel that nothing can compensate for the loss of being whole and being allowed to be a child and growing up in a healthy environment," she told the Oregonian newspaper.

"But this will start us and continue to help us on our path to healing."

The settlement also asks the Jesuits to provide a written apology to the victims and share documents of importance to victims, such as their personal medical records, Mr Tamaki said.

An insurer for the province is paying the bulk of the settlement, which still is subject to approval by hundreds of other victims and by a federal judge, reports the New York Times.

It adds that lawyers representing some of the victims initially suggested they would go after assets of some of the region's large Jesuit institutions, including Gonzaga University and Seattle University. But the settlement does not involve them, and their future vulnerability is unclear.