America's Roman Catholics applauded a $660 million settlement with sexual-abuse victims in Los Angeles but said no amount of money can heal the wounds.
A day after more than 500 people who say they were abused by clergy members agreed to settle lawsuits against the Archdiocese of Los Angeles for about $1 million each, many US Catholics expressed concern on Sunday over the church's struggle to restore confidence.
"I wish it would go away. Really, I do wish it would go away," said Claire Hogan, 64, as she emerged from Sunday Mass at 136-year-old St Columbkille's Church in Boston's Brighton neighborhood.
America's pedophile priest scandal first erupted in Boston in 2002 when many leaders of the archdiocese were found to have moved priests who abused minors to new parishes instead of defrocking them or reporting them to authorities.
"There's not any amount of money that can make up for all that," said Jennifer Meadows, 34, a social worker who was raised as a Catholic but no longer practices.
At St Dominic Church in the Los Angeles district of Eagle Rock, Del Sipin, 64, said she was pleased. "We are all happy. I don't think the higher-ups would cover them up. The wrong has to be corrected."
At the same church, Juan Samayoa, 65, said he wasn't aware of the settlement but thought the amount was excessive. "Money can't buy happiness," he said.
After emerging in Boston, the scandal spread to almost every US Catholic diocese. It led to dozens of lawsuits, millions of dollars in payments to victims and the defrocking, resignation and jailing of priests.
Bob Buchanan, 56, a Boston Catholic, said he believed the Catholic Church was working to atone for its abuses.
